Remissio
by zxrysky
Summary: Naruto doesn't know love. Can't even start to fathom the idea of having parents. But when a red haired man pops into existence in his house, Naruto thinks that yes, maybe this is what it is like to have a dad, or at the very least, a brother. And his world spins on its axis to revolve around the stranger.
1. Remember

A/N: This is one of my first Naruto fics, and please tell me what you think of it. There is bound to be a pairing somewhere in the story later on, because I'm a romance kind of person. No beta, so if there is a typo anywhere or a grammar mistake somewhere, do drop me a note.

Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. But the idea of the fic is mine.

* * *

(_"Please, please Rama, please do this one last thing for me, I beg of you."_

_He stares at the man in front of him, the color of the liquid flowing through weak humans' veins coloring his yellow hair. He stares in shock and confusion and burning anger because no, this is impossible, this man is strong, stronger than him and so why is he dying on the ground before him?_

_"__Rama," the man chokes out, and he moves forward, red hair dusting the ground as he leans down. His eyes are wide and his mouth is open slightly, trembling and disbelieving. He is more akin to thinking that his eyesight is failing him – him, who has been immortal and infallible since he was born – rather than believing the sight that registers in his mind._

_"__My friend," the man breathes out, blue eyes shining with that last semblance of hope and he wants to scream, because you're dying, everything is going up in flames next to us and you are the sun amidst the flaming earth, how can you still hope? But he holds his tongue, because the man is the first person to acknowledge him as a friend, even with all the thousands and millions of years that he has lived through. The man is a friend, and for that, he will listen to his dying wish._

_"__Please Rama, you know what I need you to do," blood trickles out of the man's mouth, and he panics for a moment, because all he knows is destruction and pain and gore and nothing about comfort or helping. "Rama, please. Just this one time."_

_He stares at the sun he holds in his arms, and thinks about how the man right here before him dragging out the last few moments of his breaths and for once, believes, that if he follows, if he listens to this man, everything will turn out fine, turn out amazing, great, perfect. The man before him is warmth and kindness and perfection, and he can't do anything but nod dumbly. _

_"__Yes," he says breathlessly, one hand reaching out to cup the man's cheek. "Yesyesyes." His words mash together, but he doesn't care less, because the man's eyelids are fluttering and his breaths are getting more ragged and no._

_"__Rama," the man breathes out once more, and he etches this face into his mind forever and ever, feels the slowing pump underneath his hand resting on the man's chest, and sees the eyes shimmer with gratitude and love. "Thank you so much." _

_And when the man in his arms breathes for the last time, he freezes when he hears his breath shutter, and when the body in his arms go limp – lighter one soul – he howls into the night sky, at the silver pale moon and screams about the unfairness of the world._

_But he will keep his promise. If nothing else, he will keep his promise._)

* * *

When Naruto wakes up, he can't help but feel that something is _gone gone missing disappeared missing_ inside of him, and he clutches his heart for a second. He is confused, because in the whole eight and a half years of his life, he has had _nothing_ to call his, so what could be so important to make him feel this way? Something churns deep and far down inside his abdomen, and Naruto frowns. It makes him feel uneasy and wrong, and at the same time, at a loss.

He stumbles around his room, picking the scrolls off the floor and falling into his orange jumpsuit, zipping it up and tripping towards the kitchen. Naruto is out of it today, because he can't ignore the digging feeling inside of him that something has been _lost_ and he just doesn't understand why, or _what_ could have been lost. When he sees all his ramen – the food of the gods, he swears – intact and safe in the cupboard, Naruto is even more confused. The only thing he would ever call _his own_ or care about, would most definitely be his ramen.

He is about to boil the water for the ramen when his nose twitches, and he floats out of the kitchen into the living room, and stares dumbly at the table. Because it's not clattered with scrolls and shuriken and other stuff, no, it's clean and _sparkling_ and _oh my god is that miso soup and rice and tofu and wow is that fish_. Naruto is fairly certain that he's never even _tasted_ fish in his entire life, and has been living solely off ramen – which probably explains his height – so why is this beautiful breakfast sitting on his table? _It must have been a work of God_.

He's almost half-afraid to eat the spread before him, wanting to just sit and stare at it in awe forever, but if he does that, Naruto is going to be late, and that'll make Iruka mad. Not that he doesn't want to make Iruka-sensei mad, but it gets a bit boring after a while. He needs to let Iruka-sensei cool off for a week or two, before Naruto strikes back even harder. Committing this amazing scene to memory, Naruto takes a deep breath and apologizes to whoever made this meal for him, and wolfs it down in record speed, pausing momentarily to savor the taste of fish because _wow that is amazing I've got to eat it more often_. Naruto even thinks that he can feel himself grow taller already, and he bounds to dump the dishes in the sink.

When Naruto arrives at the Academy, he is stunned to see something on the seat, which he always occupies. It is wrapped in red cloth, the color of the setting sun, and Naruto tentatively sneaks a peek while ignoring the bustling chatter of people around him. He sees a box, and on it, a note with an elegant script that he has to squint to read, because kanji and hiragana is not supposed to be written in elegant and cursive script for the sake of Naruto's eyes.

_You dumb shit,_ the first line reads, and Naruto instantly bristles, trying to fight down the instinct to scream at the card _you're not much better!_ because the card really didn't do anything to warrant that. It was the writer who deserved that. Already angry with the stranger, he wanted to throw the note _and_ the box away, because whoever wrote something that mean would probably be super mean later on, but something inside told him to _read on_ and Naruto did, as the latest changes in his life seemed to dull the ghost pain of having lost something important.

_You forgot your bento._ Naruto's eyes widen at this, and they dart towards the box sitting innocently on his chair. _Bento?_ Naruto is fairly certain that he's hyperventilating, but who wouldn't be if this were their first time getting a _bento_. Wasn't a bento supposed to be something a loved one gave to him? That means the stranger loved him, i.e. the stranger was someone nice, no matter how mean he could be. Looking back, Naruto faintly remembers seeing something red tied up nicely sitting on top of the drawers near the door.

_And wash the dishes by yourself next time, I cooked, I'm not going to wash too._ And Naruto _breathes_, because that meal, that wondrous amazing meal that filled him up and made him so energetic and ready for whatever idiocies the world might throw at him today, that _meal_ was made by this stranger?

Naruto was ready to drop to his knees and call this stranger god. It was like he had discovered a new religion.

He is barely shaken when Kiba bounces over to him and slings an arm around his shoulder while chattering his ear off, because _bento, breakfast, stranger_ are all that registers in Naruto's mind and his world _swirls_. Everything seems to tilt on its axis, and Naruto wants nothing more than to run back home now and see who this brilliant and perfect person is.

But Iruka-sensei comes in at just the right moment and Naruto slouches in his seat, attention span shorter than usual, and he can't focus on anything. He fidgets with the bento on his lap the whole time, and even Shikamaru is giving him strange looks. When the bell rings for lunch, Naruto shoots off his chair and runs out to the tree where he always sits with Kiba and Chouji and Shikamaru. He usually watches them eat and hears his stomach growl emptily, and occasionally steal food from them, but now, _now_, he has his own bento!

Naruto is trembling with excitement when the other three boys finally settle down beside him and he shows his wrapped bento proudly, card tucked safely in the breast pocket of his jumpsuit. He won't show the card to the boys, Naruto decides, because no matter how nice they are to him – compared to the rest of the village, that is – this strange stranger is _his_ and Naruto wants to find out the identity of this stranger before anyone else does. And if he were in a mind race with Shikamaru, Naruto would probably give up before the race even started.

"Naruto," Shikamaru asks, suddenly serious, and Naruto tenses up. "Do you know who gave it to you?"

"No," Naruto replies, but shines nonetheless. "But I bet you it's better than yours! Definitely!"

"Liar!" Kiba howls with laughter, pointing at Chouji's open bento. "Chouji's always the best, no doubt about it."

Naruto scowls, and rips the cover off the bento, proudly displaying to the boys in front of him without even glancing at the bento. "Mine's better!"

All three boys stare at the bento that seems to shine in front of them, and they all salivate a bit, because _goddamn that looks good_. Shikamaru shakes himself out of his stupor first, though, and asks hesitantly, "Is it poisoned?"

Naruto freezes at this, trust Shikamaru to ask the dangerous questions, but denies it firmly. "No way! He cooked breakfast for me too, and I ain't poisoned or anything!"

"Still," Chouji remarks from the side though his eyes are trained on the bento. "It might be poisoned. Want me to taste test for you?"

"I'm up for that too," Kiba mumbles as his eyes follow the bento. "Eat it all for you, for free."

"No!" Naruto yells, and hurriedly eats his bento in front of the one slightly suspicious but mostly jealous and curious boy, and two other wailing jealous boys. Ramen may be the food of the gods, Naruto muses, but this is definitely better than ramen. So good that it didn't need a name. The taste explodes on Naruto's tongue and makes him want to pray to the heavens, and Naruto decides there and then that this stranger is a very nice and helpful stranger that makes very, _very_ good food. And if this stranger decided to make food for Naruto all the time, who was Naruto to decline? It was a good offer, anyways.

He still fed the other boys a bit, seeing as he had to pay them back somehow for the countless times he had stolen food from _them_, and noticed that Shikamaru somehow ate a lot more than usual. Naruto didn't usually notice these kind of things, being Naruto "oblivious is my middle name" Uzumaki, but _was Shikamaru thinner or something?_

Naruto filed it somewhere in the important section of his mind, and wrapping the bento with the neatest knot he could manage, swaggers off to class again because _bento!_

He is surprisingly attentive in class later on, and Iruka-sensei seems slightly pleased as well, and Naruto is glad because even though he pranks Iruka-sensei so much, Iruka-sensei is one of the few sensei that don't actually _teach him the wrong stuff_ and is rather fair, which makes Naruto like Iruka-sensei more. A lot more.

When school is over, he doesn't even bother to wave goodbye to the three boys before dashing off to his house. The holey roof that leaks, the bleached walls with curses and jeers scribbled all over them, the cracked tiles on the floor, the broken staircases – they don't seem like much, but now Naruto can _sense_ something else, _someone else_ within and that someone else just makes everything _fit_ and ring of _home home home_.

Naruto flings the door open, and the man in front of him turns, and Naruto forgets how to breathe because the stranger has hair like fire embers and red and black strands twirl together in a mad dance of shadowed flames and the eyes are such a brilliant wine colored red and _whiskers on his cheeks that Naruto has as well, whiskers that belong to the both of them_ and when the stranger tilts his head back and his hair falls down his shoulders to dust against the middle of his back, Naruto is sure that this is his new god.

And when the man smiles, a tiny quirk of the lips that makes his eyes crease and soften and his body is languid and relaxed, Naruto understands how to breathe again. Because this man is breathtaking and his aura is amazing and Naruto can tell that this man is pure power and he. Is. _His._

"Welcome home."

Naruto is too damn sure that he is home. That this, this rundown, sorry excuse of a house, is now _home_, because of that one man standing in Naruto's living room.

Naruto doesn't understand how it can rain in a house, but it's the only explanation for the liquid running down his cheeks.

* * *

Kurama understands that Naruto is a young, orphaned child that has had nothing but hatred and scorn directed towards him with only the occasional smile, but he refuses to believe that that gives Naruto enough reason to be so damn _clingy_.

(_But Kurama doesn't mention how he treasures the small goodbyes and helloes and 'I'm going off' and 'welcome home' that hang in between the two of them, some unspoken, some unsaid, but they resonate deep within the two and both understand what they're trying to bring across_.)

Everyday when Naruto wakes up, the first thing he does is rush out to call for Kurama, to validate his existence, that Kurama hasn't _left him like every other person_. After he wipes his plates clean of food _and_ washes them (Kurama may spoil him a bit, yes – he's just a _child_ after all, a child that hasn't been spoiled in his entire life and even if Kurama doesn't understand these strange rituals of humans, he's lived amongst them long enough to know the basics but god help him if Naruto leaves the dirty dishes in the sink _again_), Naruto will grab his bento and jump on the spot next to the door, eyes wide and shining as he waits to say "I'm off!" proudly and delightedly to the half-exasperated Kurama standing in the doorway of Naruto's room. Kurama will nod and call out a faint goodbye, and he'd be loathe to admit it, but Kurama waits at the door until he can't see Naruto anymore, then he makes his way to Naruto's room to _stare outside of Naruto's window_ until he can't see Naruto from the window anymore either.

And when Naruto returns, he spends the whole of every afternoon talking to Kurama about his day, complete with messy hand gestures and overly loud sounds effects, gushing about "TEME!" and "Iruka-sensei said I did good!" and Kurama hums and nods and actually _pays attention_ while adding in an occasional "Did _well_, not good." Naruto just smiles ignorantly and continues to babble on, because honestly, who would _care_ about grammar when he finally, _finally_, has a listening ear? Iruka-sensei is fine, great, better than most, but he cannot dedicate every living second of his life to Naruto like Kurama can, and Kurama is far more brilliant, far better than Iruka-sensei can ever be, at least in Naruto's eyes.

Kurama doesn't understand when this whole _thing_ started, but now he is buying weapons for Naruto because god knows the shop owners either ignore the boy, or sell him faulty weapons at _extraordinary_ prices, which angers Kurama to no end. Kurama knows and understands what Naruto faces on a daily basis – because he was once _in_ that very boy and he experienced everything the kid did – and he can't help but feel a little guilty, since the villagers and ninjas are discriminating against Naruto for something _Kurama_ did, and now that he's out of Naruto and real and human and tangible, the villagers and ninjas really don't have a right to hold that against Naruto anymore. The only one who can call Naruto names is _him_. _Kurama_.

And another thing Kurama doesn't get (or more of _refuses_ to understand) is how _well_ Naruto takes to him. He is a demon of destruction, the nine tailed beast, the demon which occasionally wrecks havoc on villages (the one where he rages on Konoha _wasn't_ his fault though, he was controlled – _he! The demon of demons, the god of gods, was controlled!_), and only when the rumor that passes down through the mouths of each generation that speak of the great demon known as _Kyuubi_ dies down, will he attack a random village to reassert his authority and power over the weak humans. It's a very fair thing to do, Kurama believes, because he never attacks the same village twice, unless he has already attacked all other villages. But he is dangerous and power personified, and Naruto –a smiling, bouncing, blonde boy that goes "_Kurama! Kurama!_" whenever Naruto sees Kurama – takes to him like a fish does to water. Kurama can kill Naruto by just unleashing his killer intent, but when he sees the curved eyes and the beaming smile and the feel of arms around his waist (because really, that's as high as Naruto can reach, the chibi idiot), Kurama goes all _soft_.

"Kurama, Kurama, we _finally_ got to fight today! Iruka-sensei let us practice taijutsu with each other, and I kicked Kiba's ass!" Naruto shouts to the world as he races through the doorway and into Kurama's back, arms instinctively reaching up to wrap around Kurama's waist. "I'm getting better, yeah!"

"Language," Kurama mutters absently, busy stirring the soup boiling away on the stove. The shopkeepers sell Naruto either expired or spoilt food, but when it's _Kurama_ who buys things, even if the shopkeepers can't recognize him, they still smile and offer him their best products. And with Kurama cooking, Naruto no longer spends his time eating ramen or spoilt food, and finally, Naruto is _growing_ like a normal boy and doesn't look so underfed anymore. "And did you really? The last time I looked in, that one guy was beating you all around the place. Uchiha?"

"Kuramaaaa," Naruto whines, petulant, even as he sneaks around to appear in between the stove and Kurama, whiskers titling up as he grins. "I'm going to beat Uchiha someday, believe it! And I really did trash Kiba, you can ask Iruka-sensei!"

Kurama idly wonders when he became this domestic, because there's a child hanging off his arms while he cooks something in between lunch and dinner to satisfy Naruto's hunger pangs as a growing child. "Maybe." He looks down and smirks at the blonde child and clicks his tongue, which makes Naruto freeze. Kurama may spoil the child, but he has rules set in place, because even if he is now a _guardian_ or whatever those humans call it, he is still a demon, the most powerful demon in existence, and he needs some semblance of authority around the house or he'd lose his mind.

And Naruto screams, "I'm going, I'm _going._" while running to the shower and haphazardly dumping his clothes along the way because he knows that if he's sweaty and dirty after a day of the Academy when he comes to sit at the table to eat, Kurama will make him _wait_. Kurama will eat every single thing on the table – including _Naruto's share_ – until Naruto wails and pleads, and even then, Kurama doesn't relent. It's _hours_ later before Kurama places food in front of Naruto again, heated up and delicious. But the punishment is horrifying and torturous, and Naruto has learnt to _react_ at that click of the tongue. Because it symbolizes pain and punishment and _no food until later_, which makes Naruto want to drop to his knees and beg for mercy.

Naruto rushes out of the shower to pick up his clothes and dump them in the laundry basket, before running to the table and scrambling onto the chair (because really, Naruto has to _rush_ to do everything, he can't just walk normally). Kurama shakes his head at the boy, and sets the food down on the table while ruffling the blond hair. He already has seconds set away in the kitchen because if he knows Naruto – and he _knows_ Naruto – then Naruto will plead for seconds. Sure enough, Naruto scarfs down his food and holds his plate out for more, at which Kurama inclines his head at the kitchen and Naruto beams before dashing into the kitchen. He reappears with more food than his plate can hold and almost topples it over, but saves it at the last moment and sets it on the table.

"Can I-," Naruto pauses to swallow. "Can you come with me to the Academy someday?"

"No." The word escapes Kurama's mouth before the question even registers in his mind, and when he sees Naruto's stricken look, Kurama lets himself feel a little guilty. "Not now, brat."

"Never?" Naruto asks, eyes turned down at his food. "Ever?"

"Why do you want me to go, anyways?" Kurama stealthily avoids answering the question, because he knows that if he does, Naruto will either break a little inside, or insist on dragging him to school the very next day.

"Because!" Naruto bursts out. "Everyone's parents always bring them to school, and then they ask Iruka-sensei about their kid, and Iruka-sensei always says things about us that he would never tell us! And, and, I thought that I'd like to let you meet my… friends…" He trails off at the back, softening and turning his head down.

"I do watch," Kurama mutters, but he understands what Naruto is trying to say – _his_ Naruto from twenty years in the future explained to him the importance of fickle emotions in a human's life, and this emotion is one that Naruto keenly experiences. "Is it that important?" He mumbles under his breath. Kurama may be a human now, and subject to human emotions such as guilt (one that was currently crashing over him like waves), but he would never understand a human's priorities in life. When one grows to become as old as he, lazing around is the only thing on his to-do list. Maybe pay a few visits to old friends every century or so.

"But I never _see_ you," Naruto stresses. "And neither do my friends. They think you're a figment of my imagination!"

"They think I don't exist?" And Kurama, despite himself and the growingly irritated boy in front of him, feels amused. Because his existence has been validated through rumors and tales passed down through generations and experiences, and a couple of wannabe-ninja boys think that _he_ doesn't exist? Hilarious.

Naruto quiets down, and slips off the chair before dumping the plates in the sink. Kurama watches him go, and is sorely reminded of the way the Naruto's shoulders hunch over and his grip tightens marginally. Kurama hasn't spent twenty six and over years in Naruto's body for nothing, he can read the boy like an open book. And hunched over shoulders with tight grips mean that the boy is frightened, worried, and angry all at once. But fear takes precedence, and with the way Naruto has lived for the past eight years, Kurama is not surprised.

He pads back into the living room, footsteps soft and silent as Naruto makes his way to Kurama. He clambers up onto Kurama's lap and buries his face in the juncture of Kurama's neck, sniffling quietly. "I know," he starts, and Kurama's arms instinctively wrap around the boy. "Please don't get mad at me."

"Brat," Kurama sighs and pats the boy on the back. "I'm not mad at you. You're eight; eight-year-olds are allowed to have temper tantrums once in a while. I think. And I won't leave. Not now, not ever." _I didn't – couldn't – leave you before, I'm not going to ditch you now._

"Kurama," Naruto says, before pausing and shaking his head. "Will you come though? Someday?"

"Of course I will," the red haired man promises, hair flowing like a curtain around the two of them as he stands, picking Naruto up like he weighs absolutely nothing at all. And Naruto beams like he is pure sunshine (and he probably is, Kurama muses, both twenty years later and now, with that blonde hair and baby blue eyes and huge, contagious grin), his arms reaching up to wrap around Kurama's neck so he is essentially swinging off Kurama. Naruto whips himself around, previous sadness forgotten, and lands heavily on Kurama's back, but Kurama doesn't really feel a thing. "Move on, noble steed!" Naruto commands, eyes bright and beautiful, and if eyes are really the windows to the soul, Naruto's soul must be pure and untainted right now, Kurama thinks, the way the sky looks on a cloudless day.

Kurama bucks, just to scare Naruto, and Naruto laughs, a high-pitched breathless laughter that makes Kurama feel warm and comfortable, and _maybe I can understand why humans like to breed so much_. His grip around Naruto's thighs tighten, and he takes Naruto on a gallop around the house, both to pacify Naruto and himself. It's been _ages_ since Kurama's been a child, and he's never been a parent or anything, and being able to just _relax_ and go _crazy_ is something he's never done before. If Naruto's life before meeting Kurama was loneliness and discrimination and hatred, Kurama's was all that amplified.

He isn't the best guardian, not by far, and Kurama can even name a few other demons off the top of his head right now that could be better guardians to Naruto. But he has a promise, and he will keep that promise, so for now, just _right now_, Naruto is all his.

(_And the memory of a blonde boy with breathless laughter ringing in the air and bright blue eyes, precious and perfect, glimmering in the sunlight, being carried by a man with red hair and black streaks with a teasing smile on his face, red eyes glinting as he tosses the boy up in the air – the memory is treasured._)


	2. When

A/N: Is it writer's block if you think you know what you want to write, but are too lazy to actually write it?

* * *

"Kurama." Naruto is sitting at the table with his arms on the table and a serious look on his face, his eyes attempting to bore into Kurama. Kurama really can't take him seriously, however, seeing as Naruto's legs are still dangling off the seat, too short to touch the ground, and all in all, Naruto just looks like a child playing grown up. Kurama stifles a laugh, giving Naruto the respect he wants.

"Brat," Kurama responds, and tilts his head in acknowledgment. His lips twitch when Naruto furrows his brows and pouts, but with the control he has gained over millennia of years, he steels his face to become an emotionless mask.

"Kurama," Naruto tries again, eyes attempting to focus on the red head sitting before him. He has wanted to ask Kurama this question ever since Shikamaru questioned Kurama's existence (of _course_ he exists, you idiot, have you seen my bentos? Who else would make them, huh?), and today, Naruto firmly tells himself. Today is the day where all will be revealed. Where all will be uncovered. Where Kurama's secrets will be bared to the world.

Naruto's thoughts sound dramatic, but they're only there to cover up the nervousness and the feeling of his heart pounding a rhythm against his chest.

"AreyouaLeafninja?" Naruto gets it all out in one gush, and by the way Kurama inclines an eyebrow at him, he is rather amused. Naruto huffs, but repeats himself, clearer and more slowly this time, the way he would speak to a child, but he'd _die_ before admitting that to Kurama. On another hand, if he admitted that to Kurama, he'd probably die as well. "Are you a Leaf ninja?"

And Kurama _smirks_ at him, eyes lighting up with that same glint Naruto has seen in his own eyes countless times before when he is planning a prank – when he sees it in _his_ eyes, Naruto thinks that he looks cool and playful, but when it's in _Kurama's_ eyes, Naruto gets a bit scared. Because Kurama's humor and idea of a _prank_ is very different from Naruto's. They are worlds apart, even. If Naruto thought painting the Hokage monument was funny, Kurama would think that blowing it up was even funnier. "No, I'm not."

Naruto is both shocked and unsurprised, because Kurama doesn't _seem_ like a Leaf ninja, and he just appeared in Naruto's house without a care for the world. Naruto isn't _complaining_, Kurama is the best thing that has ever happened to him, but Kurama knows the village like the back of his hand, knows every single shortcut and all the shopkeepers that treat Naruto badly. If Kurama isn't a Leaf ninja, then _what is he_? And how does he know so much? Kurama knows Chouji, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, Sakura, almost _everyone_ in his Academy class without needing Naruto to tell him. "Then how did you enter Konoha? Isn't there supposed to be guards or anything to block strangers from entering?"

Kurama's smirk grows wider, and Naruto blinks, because _wow Kurama is actually really amused_. "I'm a demon, what else?"

"Demon!" Naruto tries to shove down his excitement and act more wary, but his awe overshadows his fear. "What kind of demon?"

"A fox." Kurama grins at this, foxy and playful, and Naruto can't help but grin as well. "The best kind ever."

"Like the one that attacked Konoha?" Naruto frowns slightly, because it brings back bad memories, fleeting memories of a man with hair the exact same shade as his with no whiskers in a blue outfit carrying him, eyes filled with love, and a woman with hair the color of the setting sun with dark circles under her eyes hugging him and whispering _my baby I'm so sorry_.

"Better." Kurama ruffles Naruto's hair, laughing at the sudden petulant look on his face. "Come on, it's almost your bedtime."

Naruto smiles in response and grabs Kurama's hand, feet pattering on the cold tiles as he follows Kurama to his room. "So you know lots of cool jutsus and fighting techniques!"

"Yeah," the red head nods absently, helping the boy into his nightclothes. "Lots of them."

He misses the small glint in the blonde's eyes as he places the nightcap over the boy's head. "So you'll teach me, yeah?"

Kurama catches that question, and raises an eyebrow at the smirking boy beneath him. "When you're older."

"How long 'til older?" Naruto whines, even as he crawls into bed.

"Ten years?" And a soft nostalgic smile creeps up on Kurama's face that softens his facial features and makes him look less snarly and all _fight me bastard_ but more of kind and wistful and _well then_.

Naruto pouts, clinging onto Kurama even as the latter attempts to leave. "That's a long time."

"When you live to be as old as me, ten years pass by in a flash." Kurama flashes him a grin, slowly removing the grip that the boy has on him. "I'm a super old demon, remember?"

Naruto nods, of _course_ he remembers, Kurama just mentioned it, what, ten minutes ago? Naruto may have short-term memory, but not _that_ short term. "Old man."

"Hey now brat," Kurama chuckles. "Better not insult the person cooking every meal for you."

"Bleh." Naruto sticks his tongue out at the man, and cuddles further into him.

That is how their night goes, every night, in the same way, both collapsing in laughter and jokes and teases and prods at each other's ego. Naruto falls asleep to a twilight sky (not black, more of light purple mixed with blue hues and tinges of green swirling in the middle with pretty and sparkling stars dusting the surface) and smiles and laughter, and he loves the way he can always wake up to the knowledge that _Kurama is his_.

It takes a bit of coaxing before Kurama reluctantly begins to join Naruto in bed, but Naruto is grateful for a warm body to clutch and snuggle into when the nightmares of blood and darkness hit.

* * *

Again, Naruto thinks. Again, again, _again_, because if he doesn't get this simple exercise down right, Kurama will never teach him anything. It's so simple, just sticking a leaf to his head, but it's something the Academy never taught him, and even chakra control is just something they briefly covered, so Naruto really has no idea what to do to get the leaf to stick to his head. He considers the idea of asking Kurama for help, but then the image of Kurama's knowing smirk and short laugh makes Naruto stop short.

He tries to restrain the amount of chakra going to the leaf, but every single time, the leaf either falls off, or goes up in flames (three-quarters of the time), or explodes in his face. The latter two aren't very desirable, but they are the most frequent, and Naruto doesn't know how to find a proper balance.

Naruto, after a week of futile training and Kurama's tiny laughs, decides to sink and ask Iruka-sensei for help.

"The leaf exercise?" Iruka is suitably surprised, because Naruto has never _willingly_ approached him for help, much less for chakra control. "It's a chakra control exercise, who told you about it?" Iruka doesn't bear much hatred towards _Naruto_, the boy, but his anger towards the fox demon inside is blinding, and sometimes that rage affects the way he treats the blonde boy. Iruka still attempts to be neutral when interacting with the boy, but when it comes to the other teachers, they let themselves see the boy as the _demon_ inside, and sabotage his attempts to study. Mizuki is a fine example, no matter how much Iruka wants to deny it, because Mizuki with all his sneers and jeers towards the "demon boy", is Iruka's friend.

Naruto mutters a quick "someone", and bounces on his toes, looking away from Iruka and trying not to keep eye contact. "So?"

And Iruka _sees_, not a demon child, one who wrecked Konoha and ripped Iruka's parents away from him, sending the village up in flames, but a blonde haired boy with brilliant blue eyes that reflect the world with all its naïveté and innocence, and a smile that rivals the sun, someone who wants to _learn_. As a teacher, Iruka decides that yes, this is what his role is.

He spends the next week teaching Naruto about chakra control, and at the end of that week, Naruto can keep the leaf sticking to his forehead for half an hour. Iruka finds it plenty funny, how Naruto bounds around and yells "Hah! _Hah!_ Told ya I could do it!" but some part of him wonders _who_ Naruto is referring to.

He sits Naruto down, and with a stern look on his face, questions Naruto about who he's talking about. When Naruto freezes up at this and refuses to answer, Iruka knows something is wrong.

"Naruto," Iruka tries to pull the concerned teacher card. "Naruto, is the person dangerous? Does he pose a danger to you? As your teacher, I am worried for your safety."

Naruto scrunches up his nose at this, cocking his head and thinking hard. "Well, when he doesn't give me food as punishment when I don't listen to him, he's dangerous?" Naruto phrases it more as a question than a statement, but only the front part of the statement registers in Iruka's mind.

"He _starves_ you?"

"If I don't listen to him, then he doesn't give me food for two hours, yeah. But then he gives me a bigger serving later on so… Starving? I don't know, sensei." Iruka heaves at this, because _thank god_, Naruto is thin enough as he is, and starving would do him no good at all. But this _he_ sounds relatively nice, okay, considerably manageable, perhaps not that bad, and Iruka thinks that he might, _might_ just be good for the boy.

"So it's a he?"

"Kurama isn't a it, Sensei!" And Naruto doesn't notice that he's revealed the name of his guardian, and Iruka puts that on his list of _Things to Re-teach Naruto_. Shinobi always have to know what they're saying, and revealing secrets or names in the heat of the moment can be the whole village's downfall.

"So his name is Kurama?"

"Sensei!" Naruto is looking at Iruka like he's omnipresent. "How did you _know_?"

Iruka gives up on the boy. "Nothing. So is he nice?"

"Yeah! He's the best ever, believe it!" Naruto is suddenly rambling about the man, about the food he cooks and how he teaches Naruto _some_ things, like the leaf exercise, and the way he talks, the way he tucks Naruto in bed every night, and Iruka realizes that throughout this whole description, Naruto hasn't mentioned the man's facial features or distinguishing features to Iruka.

"What does he look like?"

Naruto wrinkles his nose, and his brows furrow. "Like I'd tell you, Sensei. I'm dumb and oblivious and tactless, but not _that_ dumb. You'd tell the old jiji or something."

"Does he pose a danger to Konoha?"

"Well," Naruto ponders this for a while. "He's not _from_ Konoha."

Iruka stiffens at this, because_ not from Konoha_ means he could be an enemy nin. And Naruto might be _living with an enemy nin_.

"I want to meet him."

"No way Sensei!" Naruto blows up, eyes wide and accusing. "You're gonna scare him away from me! He's _mine_."

And then Naruto leaves, bustling out of the door unlike other ninjas, who just disappear from the window or in a swirl of leaves. Iruka, given his speed and level, might have been able to catch Naruto before he left, but Iruka is still frozen in his seat.

Maybe, _maybe_, Iruka needs to take a step back, and see how this _Kurama_ raises Naruto.

* * *

"Brat," Kurama says, voice low and exasperated. "What did I tell you about throwing shuriken?"

"Not to do it on the wall," Naruto murmurs low and under his breath, shifting on the spot.

"And what did you do?"

"Throw shuriken on the wall." Naruto's voice goes even softer here, and he's wringing his shirt in his hands, fidgeting and looking away from the red haired man in front of him.

"Not only that," Kurama says as he turns to look at the target practice on the wall. "What were you even trying to _do_ with the shuriken?"

Naruto bounces back, eyes wide and shining as he babbles. "Names! Shuriken names! Iruka-sensei did it today to show off, and I wanna show him I can do it too! It'd be nice to show off to Kiba too, that ass."

"Language."

"Sorry," Naruto says automatically, not feeling very sorry at all. "So, how is it?"

Kurama squints at the failed formation of shuriken on the wall, thrown haphazardly, a few having already fallen on the ground. "Whose name?"

"Mine! Duh," Naruto grins, crossing his arms. "I'll try yours later."

"Brat," Kurama sighs. "I can't even read it straight."

"Kuramaaaaaa," Naruto whines, upset and irritated. "Let's see you try then."

Kurama takes out his own set of sharpened shuriken (Naruto was amazing, really, okay maybe more of tolerable, but the boy just _didn't want to_ sharpen his shuriken on his own, so his shuriken were all blunt and weak) and hurls them at the wall, hitting out a perfect stretch of "NARUTO" on the wall, with a "KURAMA" next to it. They are simple and readable, and Kurama turns to smirk at Naruto, who's gaping and floundering around and looking very much like a dying fish. "See brat, it's easy. Go sharpen you shuriken and meet me outside. We'll go practice on trees, leave the walls alone."

Naruto whoops and yells, gathering up his shuriken and sharpening tools, running outside to the forest. Kurama makes a Kage Bunshin, sending him off to help Naruto, while he stays in the house and makes the walls shuriken-free again. He stands in front of the wall, contemplating, and, curling his hand into a fist, punches through the wall.

The plaster breaks and crumbles into nothing, and the apartment next to Naruto's own is now joined with his. Kurama takes a step in, and looks around the dusty apartment.

Kurama (the demon of all demons, the _god_ of demons had to _stoop down so low_) started taking up odd jobs to earn money, along with Naruto's monthly allowance. He told the landlady one sob story about running away from his abusive family and wanting to buy all the apartments on Naruto's floor, and the sobbing landlady tearfully granted him his wish. Kurama obtained all the apartments on Naruto's floor at a discount, and the extra money was put into savings, something Naruto probably didn't even understand. The money is used to buy _proper_ food, not that packet ramen that the idiot boy likes so much, because even though it's a good source of energy, it has practically _no _nutrients and _no_ proteins and for a growing child, it's not very good _or_ healthy.

Tearing down more walls, Kurama steps into each apartment and tilts his head. Each apartment is dusty and dirty, but even they look better than Naruto's apartment had. This blatant discrimination against _his_ kit makes Kurama feel a boiling rage rolling underneath his skin like waves, and he hasn't felt this way since he had been controlled.

It's strange, how the twenty six year old man changed him so much, and now, his nine-year-old version is doing the same thing.

He creates a few more Kage Bunshins, and between them, they renovate the new _house_, fully. The small, cramped house is now wider than wide, and Kurama even has a room for Naruto to go crazy in, i.e. a training room that has been reinforced with seals and has a hardened wall for Naruto to throw as many shurikens as he wants at. Kurama is rarely satisfied, but with this, _this_, something warm bubbles up in him.

"Kurama!" Naruto shrieks and yells when he sees the new house, eyes blinking and disbelieving as he traverses the wonder of the new huge apartment. It's big and wide and Naruto even thinks it bigger than the Academy (it obviously _isn't_, but Naruto's biased, and his sense of size is screwed up anyways) and absolutely _loves it_. "All for me?"

Kurama hits him up the head. "For _us_, you dumb shit. What, I don't exist?"

Naruto just laughs and beams as he yells out "Of course!" but both of them know that he is lying, that Kurama doesn't just exist in his world, he is the very _center_, the one constant which Naruto's axis spins around, the one which Naruto's world revolves around. With Kurama, it's like every thing falls into place.

"Come _on_ Kurama, let's go explore!" And Naruto drags the red haired man around the new house, brimming with happiness and excitement.

When he thinks Kurama isn't looking, Naruto gives him a quick tight hug, arms around him one moment and gone the next, looking away. Because Kurama, Kurama just _waltzed_ into Naruto's life and blended in seamlessly, and he's done so much for Naruto, so much for the stranger boy with yellow hair and blue eyes that Kurama might not know at all. Naruto isn't complaining, but sometimes he's glad, just so inexplicably _glad_ that Kurama is all his, and he feels a little bit mean for being happy that Kurama isn't anyone else's, because Kurama is like an angel, and angels should be shared with everybody since they're _angels_.

But Kurama keeps insisting that he's a demon, and Naruto just laughs and plays along. Because really, what kind of demon would be like Kurama? Fiery red and snarky and sarcastic and kind and caring and loving and good and cooking and teaching and at conversing with Naruto in Naruto-ese, without any problem at all, being able to say things without saying anything at all, and all the unspoken words hang in between them like all the stars in the universe, brilliant and sparkling and in millions.

"Kurama!" Naruto suddenly stops, and U-turns back to the training room, whipping his sharpened shuriken out, ready to use. "Watch!" He throws them at the wall, and they make a haphazard and slightly messy "KURAMA AND NARUTO".

Kurama stops in the spot, seeing the words, and is hit by a memory of a tall, full-grown blonde and cerulean-eyed man hurling shuriken into the wall of his house, words spelling out "NARUTO AND KURAMA". Smiles and whispers of words that swirl around him, of a boy all grown up and with the cloak of _Hokage_ whispering over his back.

"-rama? Kurama? Kurama?"

Kurama shakes himself out of his stupor. "Leave it there," he tells the brat, and scoops the struggling and resisting nine year old out of the room. "I'll get you some more shuriken. Leave those. And go wash up, you stink."

"Sir!" Naruto gives him a foxy grin, one that reminds Kurama of his own, and dashes off to shower. Kurama turns back to the wall, staring at the words embedded there.

A picture of a broken house, walls crumbled and broken into nothing but piles and piles of rubble, shuriken dead and blunt and on the floor and in the rubble, that when put together, form a half-missing piece of wall that says "KURAMA AND", floats to his mind.

It hurts, it aches, and it _burns_.

"Kurama!"

And the memory is shattered.

* * *

"Sasuke-teme was even more of a teme today," Naruto sulks as he rides on Kurama's shoulders, pulling at the long red hair. "He called me names."

"What names?" Kurama asks, tugging on Naruto's hands to remove them from his hair.

"I don't know them, but they sounded rude." Naruto pouts and sinks further into Kurama, slouching over his head. "Is today a bad day for him or something?"

_September the twelfth_, Kurama thinks. _That day_. "Yes, it's a bad day for him."

(_Red tracks dancing on the pathways, broken paper walls and spinning red eyes, balancing on poles with fingers moving into formations for jutsus and a boy, blue and black with fans all over the compound screaming into the night._)

"Aw," Naruto pulls on Kurama's hair. "Should we go cheer him up?"

"I'm not doing _anything_ of the sort, brat."

"But if he's having a bad day, there should be _someone_ to cheer him up. Like how you cheer me up when I'm having a bad day!"

Kurama snorts, and sets the boy down when they reach the forest. "Since when do _you_ have bad days, Mr-Sunshine?"

"Everyday," Naruto whispers, soft and quiet and Kurama almost misses it, but he feels the way Naruto's grip tightens marginally. "Everyday used to be a bad day. But!" And at that word, Naruto jumps up and smiles, and Kurama wonders how is it that this boy, this miraculous creature that can't _possibly_ be human (because who smiles that much?), can hold a breathtaking smile on his face and look at the brighter side of things, no matter how much life throws shuriken and kunai and ropes and poison and whatever not at the kid. It's amazing, and Kurama is suitably impressed. "After you came, every thing became A-Okay! _So_, we need to go cheer Sasuke-teme up too!"

And no matter how _much_ Kurama wants to argue with that logic, he can't deny that it's relatively sound for a nine-year-old, and reluctantly lets Naruto drag him over to the Uchiha compound, a minor henge over the two of them so that no one stops and glares at the pair.

Naruto barges in with guns blazing, eager and delighted with a "SASUKE-TEME!" that makes Kurama's ears hurt, and he mentally scribbles down on a list to _make sure Naruto knows more tact to not go screaming into a person's house when said person is having a bad day_. It's proper etiquette, really, and it should already be programmed into one's body, it shouldn't have to be _taught_. But Naruto defies all laws of the world and the universe and physics, so Kurama doesn't bother thinking on it.

Sasuke is silent and brooding in his room, and the glare that he sends Naruto when the loud boy jumps in can probably level a city and kill thousands, but Naruto just brushes it off like he deals with it everyday – and he probably _does_ – and pulls Kurama in. Sasuke's eyes widen and an eyebrow curves up at that, because he's never seen anyone willingly get close to Naruto, and because that red haired stranger is someone that Sasuke can swear that he's never seen in his life.

Kurama takes one look at the sulky child and sends Naruto out to get tea or something, before settling down next to Sasuke. If he could do it his way, Kurama would kill Sasuke on the spot, because that boy, that boy sitting thirty centimeters away from is the existence that has brought so much pain to his kit. Tears and screams and whines and sobs all for the one boy sitting next to him that really, in Kurama's opinion, deserves _nothing_. But Naruto seems to be able to see some hidden value in the boy, getting up and chasing after him even though all Sasuke has done is hurt, terrorize, and _hurt_ even more, and one of the promises that Kurama made to the Naruto of his time was to help the people that Naruto couldn't, back then. And sadly, that classification includes Sasuke.

"Who are you?" Sasuke starts, mumbling as he stares at a blank spot on the wall. "I've never seen you around."

"I'm a demon, what else?" Kurama flashes a grin at this, remembering the time when he broke the "news" to Naruto and the kid's reaction. Sasuke's eyes widen even further and he tries to subtly scoot a little further away, but Kurama notices and smirks. "Scared?"

"N-no."

"Bet you are."

The silence that falls between them is slightly more calm and comforting now, less awkward than before, and for a small moment, Sasuke makes believe that Kurama _understands_ what he's going through.

"So, bad day?" And the fantasy is gone, because Kurama probably has even less tact than Naruto.

Sasuke hisses and shifts his body such that his back is facing Kurama, and glares harder at the wall.

"Come here you idiot." The words ring once, twice, in his mind, and they register for only a second before Sasuke is enveloped in _red red red warmth and kind and comfort and big brother?_ It's warm and comforting and _home_, but there's no _Tachi-nii_ in the hug. But Sasuke, muscles tired from the seiza position that he's been maintaining for the past two hours, just lets his body _sag_ into the hug, and his arms tentatively come up around the red haired man.

Warning bells are going off in his mind, and Sasuke knows, understands, _acknowledges_ that this fabled Kurama whom Naruto always speaks of in the Academy is a stranger, someone who might pose a huge danger to him, had the ability to kill him now and walk away, but the tired childish voice that used to stay in the back of his mind has taken reign now, and all he wants to do is _sleep_. He's still nine years old, after all.

There is a hand petting his head, a form of affection that he has never obtained, not from his silent father, busy mother, and stoic brother. Uchihas don't usually show affection, and Sasuke can lose a few fingers and _still_ be able to count the number of times that his family has displayed any form of affection towards him on a hand. At least, the times that he remembers, of course.

Naruto almost walks into Sasuke when he comes back with tea, but Kurama motions for him to set the tea down, and Naruto instinctively curls up next to Kurama as well, falling asleep in a matter of seconds. Carefully, Kurama takes a sip of tea before moving his body such that his back touches the floor, and the two children are asleep on either sides of him.

He stares at the ceiling, and wonders when the nine-tailed fox became the sort of guardian for two orphans.


	3. The World

A/N: It's my BIRTHDAY today, so WHOOTS! Dedication to my awesome zxrycyan, sister in all but blood :) Enjoy~

I kinda want Kurama to be paired, but I kinda don't, too. Tell me what you think in the reviews!

* * *

Sasuke doesn't know what to make of Kurama. Kurama is fire and sunset and beauty, but he's slightly violent and sarcastic at the best of times, poking fun and teasing Sasuke, laughing and toying with him as they waste their afternoons away. Sometimes Kurama softens, and his movements turn languid, graceful and gentle, and it's at these rare moments kindness and comfort radiate from him, which wraps around Sasuke and tastes like fire on his tongue, close enough to burn, but not just yet. Sasuke knows what fire tastes like, is _intimate_ with the taste, even, because the fireball jutsu is one that he used to practice everyday with a stranger who had lines on his eyes and a kind smile with _Tiger to end_.

(_It's a long, long time ago, and now Sasuke isn't even sure that that incident ever happened, but it's strong in his mind and he dreams of it on good days. _

_There is someone who talks to him everyday, someone with the respectable title of 'prodigy' and 'pride of Uchiha', but to Sasuke, in Sasuke's childish six year old mind, he is nothing but "Nii-san!", simple and precious and there. _

_His father teaches him the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique as a 'coming of age ritual', and even though Sasuke manages to produce something like a super watered down version of it, all his father does is dismiss his small success with a "Itachi got it on his first try."_

_Sasuke tries it again, trains it daily for a whole week, and on the fifth day of constant failure, his brother comes to him, fingers already locked in a formation and kind smile on his face._

_"__Having trouble?" A soft voice, and Sasuke runs into the embrace, nodding disappointedly. _

_"__Try again. It's easy, see?" His brother flicks his hands through the seals, one by one, but ends before the last one. Sasuke copies the first two slowly, tentatively, fingers fumbling with the rapid switches. _

_"__Tiger to end."_

_It's a simple instruction, simple three words, but they seem to hold the entire world in them, and Sasuke believes. _

_His brother leaves, and Sasuke gets back to trying._

_He gets it on his first try._)

But that stranger isn't here anymore, and Kurama has taken up that empty place in his life, and the dancing fire on his tongue when he hugs the red haired man is sweet and bitter and dries his throat – so if there's water in his eyes, it's not Sasuke's fault.

The first time he meets Kurama, he is appalled at the way he showed weakness so easily, practically _collapsing_ into a stranger's arms without a care for the world and his safety, no matter how _much_ the hug reminded him of a faint _safe, I'm safe now_. The next few times that Kurama and Naruto visit, he is fairly courteous to the older, trying and failing to ignore the latter. But Naruto is loud and boisterous and _distracting_, which helps takes Sasuke's mind off his clan and his elder brother and that cold clammy feeling that clamps around his heart and takes away his ability to breathe.

More often than not, the visits start with Sasuke keeping a respectable distance away from them, around two meters or more, but somehow, _somehow_, he always wakes up in the middle of the night finding himself curled up tightly around Kurama's side. It's _nice_, and Sasuke doesn't know what to do, or how to deal with this affection, because he's never _had_ much affection in his life. He understands Naruto even less, because at least _Sasuke_ has had some sort of affection in his life, no matter how little it was, but Naruto? None. Zilch. Nada. All Sasuke can observe when people see Naruto is sharp gazes and burning hatred that fuel an irresponsible fire, with harsh pushes and kicks and jeering. He fails to understand how people can hate, so furiously _hate_ a boy, no older than Sasuke himself. Nine years is a short time, how much _wrong_ could a nine year old do? Pranks were irritating, but it was illogical to garner so much _hatred_ just because of pranks. Even Sasuke has tried asking his father once, but all his father said was "Stay away from him. He will do you no good." Sasuke doesn't understand at all.

Naruto has had practically next to no affection from _anyone_ in his life, but according to him, the moment Kurama stepped into his life and threw it off its revolving axis, Naruto took to him like a duck to water. How did one deal with affection after not having it for _so long_?

"Kurama?" Naruto asks, surprised, when Sasuke brings the matter up with him. "Why _wouldn't_ you attach yourself to him?"

"It's not that," Sasuke mutters. "How do you _deal_ with it? It's, it's strange, suddenly having hugs and laughter and smiles when you've never had anything of the sort since _forever_."

Naruto pauses and tilts his head to the side, looking as if he was really pondering the question. "Is it really that important?"

"Yes!"

"Well," Naruto starts slowly, carefully, like Sasuke's a bomb and he's trying to diffuse it in the least dangerous way possible. But that's impossible, because Sasuke is a tightly rolled up ball of flames and every part of him is dangerous. "He's just… _mine_, you know? And everything that he gives me is now _mine_, too. I just take it as it comes. What's the point of fighting… or denying it? It's mine for the taking, why wouldn't I take it?"

Sasuke thinks, that for the first time in his life, Naruto might actually just be _deep_.

"And… And it shows how much he adores me? He does actually adore me, don't listen to what he says. He expresses his affection through tough love most of the time, him hitting me is a way of saying that he loves me. I think."

Sasuke takes everything back; Naruto is just a dobe idiot. Deepness is not Naruto's forte, or even his _thing_. It's just not him. But he somehow understands, somehow _gets_ what Naruto is trying to say, and he nods, not before he hits Naruto, of course.

They start fighting in the middle of another conversation and roll around on the floor wrestling, yelling and shouting and _laughing_ amidst the scowls and frowns, and Kurama leans against the door, watching and chuckling as he sees the two boys tumble around.

It's pure innocent fun, and in Sasuke's mind, it rings faintly of _home_.

* * *

"Kurama," Sasuke's voice is stern and unforgiving. "Are you really a demon?"

Kurama thinks of the attempted interrogation that Naruto tried – and failed – to give him, and turns to disguise his laugh as a cough before he looks back at Sasuke and adopts a neutral face, inclining his head. Naruto is by Sasuke's side, and it looks like he's giving the black haired boy some moral support. They are kneeling on the ground, and the whole process is much more formal than it should be. "I am."

"Do I- we," Sasuke stumbles a bit here. "Do we need to t-tell the H-Hokage?" He stutters a bit, and Naruto grips his hand tighter. If they tell the Hokage, the old jiji might say that Kurama is dangerous – he _is _dangerous, just not dangerous to Naruto and Sasuke – and take him away. _Take Kurama away_. Just the thought is enough to make the boys shudder and press closer to the man's warm body.

"If you want." Kurama lets his façade slip for a moment and smirks, silently laughing at the way the two boys tense up and start fidgeting. "Do you want to?"

"No!" They burst out together, hurried and rushed and _pleading_. Kurama is a little shocked, because he expected the rushed tone, but not _pleading_. Never _pleading_. What were they still worried about, anyways? Kurama was a demon, _the_ demon, but more than that – he was _immortal_. They'd leave him sooner than he'd leave them.

Naruto jerks towards him, dragging Sasuke behind him and they seem to melt into water as they sag in his arms, hugging him tightly and painfully as they murmur muffled words against his stomach and chest. "Hey now…" Kurama is slightly confused, and unsure, because comforting is bad, comforting is a no-go, comforting is something he's always been bad at. Naruto used to tell him that "whenever you try to comfort someone, it's like you get verbal diarrhea, and you absolutely _suck_ at comforting someone. You make them feel a bit worse, you know?" But the brat (twenty years in the future) kept coming _back_ to Kurama for his "sucky comfort", and Kurama still doesn't get it.

He's always been bad at people stuff. Living in isolation for a couple of millennia and not even _being_ a human in the first place does that to you.

"Don't leave." Naruto looks up and is teary eyed, and Kurama swears in his mind because anger he can deal with, hatred he can deal with, guilt he can deal with, but tears? Goodbye, please go far, far away. His arms tighten around his boys and he hugs them closer, barking out a laughter that is shakier than expected. Sasuke glances up for a heartbeat, two, before burying his head in Kurama's chest.

"I'm not going anywhere, haven't we been over this?" Kurama asks, slow and soft, and Naruto shudders in his hold. Sasuke trembles a bit, holding onto Kurama like he's a lifeline and Sasuke's a dying man being brought down by the waves of the ocean.

"Yeah, _but_."

"Come on you two," Kurama chuckles, lying down, such that the two boys are spread-eagled across his chest. "Both of you tried to interrogate me about my being a demon, and _both_ of you failed. One individually, and one together. Such failures, really."

And Naruto laughs, high and bright, and it coaxes a smile out of Sasuke. Naruto starts hitting the red haired man with his fists, laughing as he attempts to pummel the man lying before him while Sasuke just lazes around. The duo has visited Sasuke everyday thus far, and it's almost like they stay here. It's almost like _family_.

It's another week before Kurama invites Sasuke to live with them at _their_ home with the size of four apartments and two training rooms with the shuriken words "KURAMA AND NARUTO" that are awaiting the addition of "AND SASUKE" on the wall. Sasuke stammers and stumbles and tries to subtly rub at his eyes, but Kurama sees everything, and he carries Sasuke on his shoulders as they take a shortcut home over the rooftop. Sasuke doesn't understand why no one, not even the _ANBU_ question the strange trio dashing across the rooftops in the night sky, but he doesn't question.

From his height on Kurama's shoulders, he can see the village that his brother once loved, the stars sparkling and shining and hanging oh so high in the sky, and the moon, the full moon whose light they appear as shadows in. It's calming and the whoosh of wind in his hair and ears make Sasuke's heart pound, and Naruto, attached to Kurama's chest, tugs on Sasuke's leg, and the blonde grins at Sasuke, mouthing silent words.

It's funny, how each boy has their own rooms, but every night, they crawl into Kurama's bed and they sleep curled up against the older man, with the golden stars falling past the blanket of dark blue and purple and a bit of green in the sky. They sleep, and they dream, and every day, they wake up to breakfast already on the table with Kurama in the kitchen, their clothes washed and ready for them to wear, and bentos – one wrapped in red, one wrapped in blue – waiting by the door.

It's strange, how Naruto's bento and Sasuke's bento differ, because what's in Naruto's bento is what _Naruto _adores, and what's in Sasuke's bento is what _Sasuke_ adores, but their favorite foods are as different as night and day, like the two of them. It makes Naruto think of Kurama as a mother figure, because in his mind, no self-respecting man would wake up at such an ungodly hour just to _cook_. Kurama claims that "I'm a demon, waking up at ungodly hours to do strange things are our _thing_," but Naruto doesn't trust care. Cooking is feminine, and he's even gotten Sasuke to agree. But he doesn't tell that to Kurama's face, because contrary to popular belief, Naruto actually _has_ control over what he says, and he treasures his current life very dearly, for if Kurama were to even catch wind of this idea, Naruto would be going without food for two hours, or worse, not get _training_. Sasuke's smug smile when he sees Naruto have a tiny panic attack pretty much seals the deal, anyways, because Naruto isn't letting Sasuke live happily if _he's_ going to have to suffer. It isn't faaaaair.

And what's better is how they go to the Academy together, swinging in through the door with tousled hair and ruffled egos, falling over one another as they try to be the first to fall into seat with laughter and bright eyes and smiles. Everyone stares and stares and _stares_, because Sasuke, the Last Uchiha, the beautiful stoic silent pretty boy that is a prodigy, is _associating_ with Naruto, the Prankster, the idiotic loud mischievous funny boy that is a reject. Kiba is confused, Chouji just eats more chips and silently offers some to Naruto in exchange for a few mouthfuls of Naruto's bento (and then Naruto makes _Sasuke_ give him some of the black haired boy's bento, claiming that _it's ours_, and Sasuke just rolls his eyes and gives in with an exasperated smile that curls up at the corner of his lips, making everyone freeze while the girls squeal and gossip in a corner), while Shikamaru looks intrigued and his fingers steeple in that strange formation that is not a seal, and Naruto just nods cordially in his direction.

Sasuke can safely say that he'll never be part of Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji, but with the way Naruto just brings in a storm and pulls along all the left over baggage (i.e. Sasuke) for the long and draggy ride, Sasuke likes to think that maybe, he has something like _friends_ now.

(_And Sasuke never brings it up again, hides the memory deep in his heart and soul, but sometimes when he looks out of the window on a sleepless night and stares at the full moon, he thinks of the words Naruto mouthed to him._

_Kurama growls out something whilst half asleep, and wraps an arm around Sasuke, dragging the boy back to the warm embrace, and Sasuke lets his eyes close as he snuggles into the man._

_It's a nice feeling, quiet and soft._

_"__See? Ours for the taking."_)

* * *

"Naruto," Shikamaru suddenly asks on a bright midsummer day, and Naruto inclines his head.

"Do you…" And Shikamaru pauses here, which makes _Naruto_ pause, because no matter what time it is, what day of the week it is, or even how lazy Shikamaru is feeling that day, his questions are always fast and to the point, and he's _never_ contemplative or even _unsure_. "Is Sasuke living with this stranger friend of yours as well?"

Sasuke freezes, tenses, then bristles, hackles rising and turning his gaze to Shikamaru like the latter is asking for a fight. Shikamaru's hands go up immediately, in the worldwide-acknowledged show of 'surrender' with his hands up, palm facing Sasuke. "Calm down, just an honest question. Che… this is so troublesome."

"If you think this is troublesome," Sasuke hisses out, breath catching on the last word long enough for Naruto to know that Sasuke is _unsettled_. "Then _stop asking_."

"Hey, Sasuke-teme! Calm down, will you?" Naruto steps in, and the tension is gone, broken through like how a sharpened knife can slice through a silk cloth easily, quietly, silently. "Yeah," Naruto turns back to face Shikamaru and rubs the back of his head absently. "Sasuke stays with us now. Right, teme?"

Sasuke scoffs and tosses his head, making the fangirls crouching at least five miles away coo in the distance. "So?"

"This guardian isn't a Konoha ninja _or_ civilian, is he?" Shikamaru asks lazily, finger twirling around a piece of grass as he stares absently at the clouds.

Naruto's gaze sharpens instantly and he unconsciously radiates something cold and dark, something that wraps around Sasuke like an old friend but chills Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru to the bone. "Got a problem with that?"

Chouji tries to placate the midly trembling Naruto, but Shikamaru grabs the chubby boy and motions for him to _stand down, wait_. Kiba's eyes are darting from the lazy boy to the suddenly deadly furious duo, and looks unsure of what to do, Akamaru hiding deeper in his jacket, muffled whines occasionally breaking through.

"Nah." And in an exhale of breath, the cold aura isn't there, disappeared, gone with the wind, and Naruto breathes out a shaky laugh. "Though, my father is getting a bit curious about your bentos. I might have accidentally told him a thing or two about the bentos you two have, and how I'd like one like that."

Sasuke nods, because he _understands_, understands that this is the best warning Shikamaru can give them as a friend that someone – most likely Nara Shikaku – might inform the Hokage of this discrepancy, and Shikamaru is _helping_ them, _warning_ them, and Sasuke is ever so grateful in that one sole moment.

Naruto grins, blindingly, and offers a portion of his bento (and steals a bit of Sasuke's, but Sasuke, miraculously, doesn't resist that much) as a peace offering to Shikamaru, an as an apology. Shikamaru nods, and accepts the food graciously, savoring the explosion of flavors on his taste buds, before finishing and asking for more.

The boys fall back into their easy camaraderie, tussling around on the ground as Sasuke looks on, marginally amused, and the five of them don't notice the way Iruka shoots a worried look at them.

Iruka knows that Naruto is a good judge of character, realizes that _Sasuke_ must be an even _better_ judge of character even though he's jaded and all, because now that he's tasted the bitter flavor of betrayal, Sasuke can look beneath the underneath and really _see_, not just look at people, but he can't help being worried.

No matter how much he trusts Naruto and Sasuke (more Sasuke than Naruto), Iruka doesn't know this _Kurama_, and doesn't – _can't_ – trust that stranger in his village.

He mentions it in passing to the Hokage, a quick "By the way, Naruto says he knows this Kurama fellow, do you know him?" and is startled by the way the Sandaime's eyes flick open wide, before narrowing.

"No," Sarutobi answers, slow and steady. "I don't know of him. But Shikaku has mentioned him as well."

"Naruto lives with him." Iruka doesn't know where his head to mouth filter has gone, and he filled with a sudden sense of guilt, having betrayed Naruto with those four simple words. It's strange, because Naruto is the _demon brat_, but lately Iruka seems to find him less and less of a danger and a monster, but a kid, bright and innocent and adorable and Iruka's just proved Naruto right by telling "the old jiji" about Kurama.

_"__Like I'd tell you, Sensei. I'm dumb and oblivious and tactless, but not that dumb. You'd tell the old jiji or something."_

"He does?" The Hokage is old, and has many other things to take care of, so he can't spend every living hour on the living conditions of Naruto. He's busy, and his memory isn't all that good, but surely, _surely_, he would have remembered Naruto mentioning something like that when he came to visit?

(_"Oi, jiji!"_

_"__Yes, Naruto?"_

_"__You free today? Or do you have work to do again, you old man?"_

_"__This old man is a busy old man, Naruto. Why don't you go to Ichiraku's, and I'll catch up with you there?"_

_"… __You'll be there?"_

_"__Of course Naruto."_

_"__Then I'm going to eat as much as I can! Believe it!"_

_Naruto waits and waits and waits, until Teuchi-san just lets the kid go without paying, because the Sandaime never turns up._)

"Yes, Hokage-san. I believe that Sasuke has joined them now."

"Sasuke?" Sarutobi can't do anything but blankly repeat the words that Iruka is saying, because his mind is still caught up on the fact that he's brushed Naruto off a good couple of times, and that's just _wrong_, since children need their attention. Positive attention, at that. "He's living with this Kurama person?"

"Yes, Hokage-san."

"Iruka," Sarutobi leans forward, propping his wrinkled elbows on the table and linking his fingers together. "Have you ever seen this Kurama? Is he posing a danger to Naruto and Sasuke's safety?"

"I have not seen him, and I don't know if he poses a danger, but Naruto has mentioned that he is not a Konoha nin, nor a citizen."

And Sarutobi freezes, because they could be Iwa nin or Kirin in and be out to kill, slaughter, annihilate the last members of the Namikaze and Uchiha clan, _Minato_'s son, and _Fugaku_'s son. Sarutobi didn't know Fugaku very well, but they were cordial to each other, even occasionally met up to discuss political matters, and he very much enjoyed the discussions. He was even ready to call Fugaku a _friend_. (He doesn't think about, refuses to _ponder_ on the order he had given out a long time ago, dangerous and betraying and _death_.)

And now their sons might be in mortal- no, _peril_ danger.

"Iruka, can you meet this Kurama person, somehow? I believe that Naruto still lives the apartment that I gave him, would you help visit them and scout out this man?" Iruka knows that the Sandaime phrased it as a question, but it is a sharp order in disguise, and Iruka swallows tightly, nodding once.

"Understood."

* * *

Iruka tries to appeal to Sasuke. He's tried the concerned teacher game with Naruto, and failed, spectacularly. Sasuke, he thinks he can try slightly harder, with possibly better results. Sasuke has been hurt, broken, and messily put back together with glue streaming down the cracks in the shards of his heart, but slowly, even Iruka can see that he is improving. And most likely, with the help of this stranger Kurama. But Sasuke knows the danger of being taken advantage of and being betrayed, and Iruka – no matter how much it pains him to do so because he's a _teacher_ dammit, he shouldn't be taking advantage of his student's flimsy heart like this – thinks that it'll be easier to persuade Sasuke to tell him more about this stranger that has entered the boys' lives.

But "No" is the answer Sasuke gives him, firm and resounding and echoing in the soft silence of the classroom, Iruka staring frozen at the boy.

"Sasuke-kun," Iruka tries again. "Sensei is concerned for both you and Naruto-kun, what if this Kurama person is dangerous? Sensei would like to meet him, at least, to ensure that he will not pose a danger to the both of you."

"No." Sasuke insists, cold and hard and determined, hands curling into fists by his side. "Kurama is not a danger."

"But he might be a missing-nin," Iruka reasons.

"He's not."

"How do you know?"

"He's _not_."

"Sasuke-kun," Iruka is slightly frustrated, slightly angry, but slightly proud at the same time, because no matter what the Hokage says, Sasuke is putting up a rather brave front in front of an Academy teacher, sticking up for his guardian of a sorts, and that sort of tenacity is admirable.

"Sensei," Sasuke starts. "Can't you just _trust_ my decision on this?" He hesitates, as if with this small question, he's already asking the world of Iruka. Sasuke's voice is small and quiet, the lilting tone changing the mood of the question, sounding very much like a child trying to gain acceptance.

Iruka sighs, long, hard and deep, because his hands are tied now. He's tried asking Naruto, tried asking Sasuke, and nothing. Trust is a big thing, huge and heavy and gravity defying and it can make or break a person.

"Sasuke." Iruka sighs again, looking like a weary Academy teacher that is so _tired_ and _concerned_ and for a moment, a heartbeat, Sasuke feels marginally guilty. "If, you ever think that Kurama is dangerous, or does anything dangerous to either Naruto or you, please come tell me?"

Iruka trusts him. Iruka-sensei trusts him. The slight lilt of his voice at the end makes the statement sound like a question, and Sasuke nods, once, twice, and his fists relax back, the tenseness in his back rolling off like waves.

"Sensei," Sasuke turns back just as he reaches the door, glancing at the teacher standing there. "Kurama's not _that_ dangerous. I mean, we're a ninja village. We're _all_ dangerous."

And with that, he leaves, dashing out of the classroom and into the field, where Naruto joins him, laughing and smiling and "See? _Told you_ Iruka-sensei would ask you. _Called it_."

"Dumbass. Kurama knew it before _you_ did."

"Kurama knows _everything_. He doesn't count, teme!"

"Of course he counts."

"Doesn't!"

"Does."

"Doesn't!"

"Does."

"Saaaaaaaaaasuuuuuuukeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

"Does."

"TEME!"

The duo trip over themselves as they make it home, crashing in through the front door with giggles and smiles and childish banter, competing to see who can reach Kurama first.

Of course, Kurama wins. Somehow.


	4. Falls Down

A/N: I came so close to not updating because I totally forgot that today was Friday and that I was supposed to update. Then my friend reminded me over McDonalds this afternoon (coughzxrycyancough - oh and you never did tell me how that party ended) and so here I am.

I really think that Kurama should be paired. Ack. Maybe it's just cause I want to write some angsty love.

* * *

Naruto has known, since the tender age of five, that heroes don't exist.

Heroes, the people with the red capes and shining eyes that swoop in to save the day every single time someone is in trouble. Heroes, the people that _would've_ helped and saved Naruto because heroes don't practise discrimination or prejudice and they would save Naruto without a second thought. Heroes, the people who save and help those who need it. People like Naruto.

But for the past five years of pain and taunts and laughter and being pushed around, Naruto can safely conclude that no, either there are no heroes in the world, or they are, but they don't notice him. And Naruto doesn't blame them, because he's the reject, _no one_ notices him. And heroes don't exist anyways.

But Kurama, Kurama is different. He is bright and brilliant and shining and Naruto is running out of words to describe him, because his vocabulary is very short and limited and cannot do Kurama justice.

Naruto likes to think that Kurama might very well be the next best thing to a hero, because he makes everything better just by _existing_, and he always helps Naruto. Naruto supposes that helping Sasuke is a good thing, too, but that teme doesn't deserve to be mentioned. Not yet. The dark haired boy seems to be getting better, becoming less of a _teme_ and more of a _Sasuke_ in Naruto's mind, and that's a plus point.

It's good that Kurama isn't a hero, Naruto thinks, because Kurama's hair is red enough to blind people when turned at the right angle with just the right amount of sunlight and the red cape wouldn't help his fashion sense.

Kurama is just the right mix of stern and unforgiving and _brat you're light years too early to want me to teach you anything_ and kindness and encouragement and _come on brat, if you want to learn, you've got to buck up cause I'm not going to teach a failure, and you ain't a failure_. Kurama is socially awkward and a sort of tsundere in the way he _never_ admits his affection for Naruto and Sasuke, but showcases it everyday anyways.

Kurama teaches (it was more of forcing, at first, with Kurama putting them in a time-out – a _time-out_! Even _Iruka-sensei_ doesn't put them in _time-outs_, time-outs are for _babies_! – and not letting the duo leave until they sort out their differences. It took a long five hours of moaning and groaning and whining and fighting and screaming, but they came to an understanding, _somehow_. Seeing Kurama's slight smile made it worth it, though.) Naruto and Sasuke how to fight, teaches them a different style and form of taijutsu, something not taught by the Academy but it somehow _fits_ them so much better. Their movements are easy and fluid and it just _comes_ to them naturally like they've known it their whole life, and when they question Kurama about it, all the red head does is scoff and say _your Academy doesn't know what it's doing_.

But while fighting differently is good and all, Kurama insists that they only demonstrate the Academy taijutsu when in class. Sasuke reluctantly teaches Naruto, and Naruto helps Sasuke improve on his stealth – a fair trade. Naruto had wanted Sasuke to wear an orange jumpsuit – it looked _horrible_, yes, a huge _eye-sore_ (even _Naruto_ agreed to that) – but it did _wonders_ for one's stealth. Setting up pranks that no one could trace back to you _and_ escaping genin and chunin and jounin and even _ANBU_ in an _orange_ jumpsuit? Really, it was impressive.

Sasuke won that battle, but Naruto would win the _war_. He _would_, no matter how much Kurama laughed.

And Kurama is pretty amazing, with all the cool stuff he knows. He can level a tree without twitching a finger (i.e. _no hand seals_) and Naruto doesn't know _how_ the man does it, but all Kurama does is smirk and say "I'm a demon." Naruto thinks that the joke is getting old, and real fast too, with the numerous times Kurama says it.

But on another note, Kurama can actually _teach_, and isn't half bad, and Naruto (and Sasuke) swears that he learns a heck load more in Kurama's makeshift classes outside the shower or while getting ready for bed than the actual lessons in class. Sasuke says that Naruto doesn't have a right to talk, because the latter spends more time asleep, not listening, or playing truant in Iruka-sensei's lessons, while he actually pays attention to Kurama. Naruto ignores the teme and his rather sound logic, as usual.

Naruto knows the story behind the Hokages, the Shodaime, the Nidaime, the Sandaime, the Yondaime, knows all the Lands and the Countries and the names of all the Daimyos and _guess what_ he even knows the shinobi (or missing-nin) in the bingo books! Sasuke has been gracious enough (only because _Kurama_ asked) to bring over the bingo books in the Uchiha Compound, and the two boys spend _hours_ pouring over the ninjas in there, asking questions that Kurama seems to always know the answers to. Kurama knows _all_ the jutsus as well, and he always demonstrates them to the boys, once, twice, thrice, maybe five times a day and he complains, sure, but he _keeps doing it_ and that is the only thing that registers as important.

"Kurama!" Naruto yells as he tumbles through the doorway and jumps onto the bed. "Kurama, wake up!"

"Brat." The red head snorts into his pillow before turning over, staring at the bouncing yellow _thing_ on his bed. "What?"

"Sasuke wants to learn more jutsus, and so do I!"

"Kurama," Sasuke is visible in the doorway, his voice somewhere in between soft and clear. Kurama has _finally_ gotten the boy to _drop_ the –san, and he's never been pleased more. "Please?"

"Brats." The mutter is three-quarters resigned and one-quarter exasperated, and the two boys share a Look, knowing that they have won. "One more hour."

"Thirty minutes." Naruto wheedles, and laughs when Kurama kicks him off the bed.

"I made food for you two, you brats owe me. One _hour_."

"Fifty minutes," Sasuke tries, ignoring Naruto's mouthing of _fifty minutes? That's as good as an hour!_

"Sold." And Kurama just snuggles back into his bed, wondering why the hell he never invested in this sort of thing as a demon. Covers were _much_ better than grass, no matter what _anyone_ said. "Now scat."

Naruto giggles, high-pitched and happy, while Sasuke scrunches up his nose and looks marginally put out in a dignified way at being told to '_scat_'.

"But what will you teach us?" Sasuke asks, inching in and sitting on the end of Kurama's bed.

"Stuff." Kurama waves his hand wildly in the air to further support the previous statement. "Maybe how to shoot fire from your mouth."

"I already know that," Sasuke says (it is not a _whine_, no matter what Naruto or Kurama says). "Teach me something else."

"Hey!" Naruto scowls. "_I_ don't know how to shoot fire from my mouth."

"Okay, I'll teach Naruto how to shoot fire from his mouth," Kurama says into his pillow. "And for Sasuke, I'll teach you the importance of having a good hairstyle."

"_What?_" Sasuke looks suitably scandalized. "My hair is perfectly fine, thank you very much."

"Brat." Kurama puffs out. "I'll talk to you about something important. _Then_ I'll teach you something. But for now, _scat_."

Naruto scrambles off the bed (he had somehow returned) and pulls Sasuke off, shouting out an "only _fifty_ minutes!" as they leave.

Kurama just groans and tugs the covers over his head.

* * *

Sasuke finds it mildly irritating that Kurama calls him a brat. When Kurama calls Naruto a brat, Sasuke finds that he doesn't mind as much, because _really_, Naruto _is_ a brat. Loud and messy and boisterous and _bratty_. While Sasuke _isn't_.

Kurama refers to one of them as 'Brat.' and refers to both of them as 'Brats.' like it's an actual name or title, the way one would say 'child' and 'children' when more comes along. He used to refer to them separately as Brat No. 1 and Brat No. 2, but boy did _that_ turn out well.

(_"Hah!" Naruto yells, pointing a finger at Sasuke. "I'm Brat No. 1. One! One, you hear? One! ONE! O-N-E!"_

_Sasuke just crosses his arms and taps his feet, wanting the idiot to get to the point. "And so?"_

_"__EVI-DENT-LY," Naruto continues, "Kurama likes ME better. 'Cause I'm number one, teme! ONE!"_

_"__THAT'S NOT TRUE." Sasuke briefly wonders how the blond idiot can always rile him up and get him to raise his voice even when he thinks the situation doesn't require such raising of voices. "KURAMA DOES NOT LIKE YOU BETTER!"_

_"__DOES TOO!"_

_"__DOES NOT!"_

_"__DOES TOO!"_

_"__DOES NOT!"_

_"__Brats."_

_That one word shut them up._

_"__The numbers are just for identification's sake, that's all. If both of you are here, and I just call out 'brat', both of you are going to respond, but I don't need that," Kurama calls out from his position on the sofa. _

_"__But Kurama, I'm Brat No. ONE for a reason, not Brat No. TWO, right?"_

_"__How about you become Brat No. 2 and Sasuke becomes Brat No. 1 then?"_

_"__Hah." Sasuke's voice is low and quiet and under his breath. "Now he likes ME better."_

_"__TEMEEEEE!" Naruto howls, and they fall over the sofa wrestling. _

_"__Brats. The training room is there for a reason."_

_The boys continue fighting in the living room behind the sofa, paying Kurama's exasperated voice no heed._)

Now, they are Yellow Brat and Blue Brat, occasionally Naruto and Sasuke, and together they are Brats. It sounds like one of those cheesy lines that heroes say while posing in a stupid position (somehow the position that comes to mind is Gai-san's Good Pose number 5 and that's plain _scary_) and it makes Sasuke shudder when he realizes that he can actually sort of, kind of, a little, picture Naruto doing that and _oh god pictures_.

It's mentally scarring. Truly.

But the funny thing is that the two of them have gotten so used to Kurama's calling them brats, that the moment someone says the word 'brat', their heads whip around to find the source.

Once this really old (and Sasuke meant _old_, probably as old as the Hokage) shopkeeper had spit out the word "_Brat_" in a very slimy and icky voice, and both boys turned, eyes automatically searching for a red head but landing on the old decrepit man instead.

Sasuke suspects that the shopkeeper had been trying to insult Naruto, but with him – the _Last Uchiha_ and this might possibly be the first and last time he's saying it, but Sasuke might actually be _glad_ for that huge and respect-demanding title of his – answering to the name as well, the shopkeeper's eyes turn wide and desperate and _ooh is that fear_. The man hurriedly turns around and pretends not to notice the two boys, and Sasuke doesn't say anything, just shrugging and walking back home. If he somehow catches hold of the end of Naruto's shirt to either lead the blond or be led, Sasuke doesn't say anything.

Kurama stays true to his word, and he spends the first hour teaching Naruto the Great Fireball Jutsu (_Sasuke_ learnt _and_ could do it at the age of seven. Ha!). All that comes out is a huge puff of smoke and a little bit of fire, and Sasuke won't deny that he fell over laughing. It _was_ funny, seeing Naruto's cheeks puffed out like that with his wide-eyed expression and scrunched up nose at the result.

But now he is seated opposite Kurama on the floor (not in seiza position, _thank god_, that thing does horrors for his thighs) to talk about the "Something Important".

"Sasuke," Kurama starts, and Sasuke jolts a bit because the older man only uses their real names when he very, very tired or very, very serious, or very, very angry. Kurama has had an entire fifty more minutes to sleep in so Sasuke thinks that he can cross that off his list, which means that Kurama is either very, very serious or very, very angry and that sort of scares Sasuke. He's never been able to deal well with disappointment from people he respects. His father, his brother, and now, Kurama.

"Sasuke, what can you tell me about the Uchiha Massacre?"

Sasuke doesn't expect this question, and hence, doesn't know how to reply.

"… It was dark." Sasuke tries. "It was very quiet. I-I came home, and saw many people lying on the ground. My clan. There was a lot of blood.

"I think I screamed."

Kurama doesn't say a word, just opens his arms and Sasuke instinctively rushes in, clutching and grabbing every thing he can find to _anchor_ himself to this plane, to this world, to _Kurama_, and not get lost in his memories. Remembering is scary.

"Why?" Sasuke asks, muffled as he speaks into Kurama's clothes. "Why do you want to know, Kurama?"

"… Because I think you've got it all wrong."

Sasuke is very tempted to scream and shout and tear everything apart while saying _you know nothing, you weren't there, you didn't see anything, you _know nothing. But somewhere, subconsciously, he gets the feeling that Kurama _does_ know. Somehow.

"How? Wrong _how_?" He peeks up.

"What do you think of Itachi?"

Sasuke freezes and blanches and shudders all at the same time. "I want to kill him."

"What do you _think_ of Itachi?" Kurama repeats, an exasperated smile on his face as he ruffles Sasuke's hair.

"I want to kill him?" Sasuke has this tilting lilt in his voice at the end of that statement that makes it sound more like a question than a statement.

"What do you _think_ of Itachi, other than killing him. Before the Massacre."

"… He was nice," Sasuke mumbles as he buries his face in Kurama's chest again. "Tachi-nii was nice."

"Well then, Blue Brat," Kurama says. "You're smart and logical, do you really think a nice person would kill everyone in your clan in cold blood?"

"Yes." Sasuke replies.

"… Okay, taking it out of context, say a nice person is rumored to have killed his whole family. Say _I'm_ rumored to have killed my whole family. Would you think that I did it in cold blood?"

"… No?"

"Why?"

"Because you're nice," Sasuke says softly. "You teach Naruto and me stuff, you're like an older brother who's _always_ here, and you're… nice. You wouldn't do it without a reason."

"Does Itachi teach you stuff?"

A nod.

"Is he an older brother who's always here?"

A nod. A shake of the head. A half-shrug. "Sometimes."

"Is he _nice_?"

"Yes," Sasuke says into Kurama's clothes. "Yes."

"Then how can you believe that Itachi killed your clan in cold blood?"

Sasuke really, really hates it when he meets people whose logic is sounder than his. It's _irritating_.

"So what if he didn't?" Sasuke maintained. "He still killed Kaa-san and Tou-san and everyone else."

"I know Itachi is a genius, a prodigy, an insanely capable alien from outer space that has lines on his face which make him look old, but do you think he's skilled enough to kill a hundred odd people _without_ alerting anyone? The Uchiha Compound is somewhere near the other Clan Compounds, do you think that _Itachi_ can do it all on his one in _one_ night?" Kurama raises an eyebrow and gives Sasuke a '_no shit_' look.

Sasuke grudgingly gives a minute shake of his head.

"Hn," Sasuke mutters. "Maybe I won't kill him straight away."

They settle into a comfortable silence, Sasuke's arms still wrapped around Kurama's chest and the former's body in the latter's lap. The silence is cool and nice, holding all the unspoken words that both of them instinctively _understand_ and _recognize_, without needing to say anything. It feels like the way he would spend his nights with his brother. The rare nights when his brother came home early and didn't have any clan duties to attend to, no ANBU duties to take care of, no matters that Father wanted to take up with him. Itachi would sit with him on the porch, back to back, both staring out at the countless stars that hung in the sky like diamonds – high, untouchable, infinite, like the wishes a child would make. Beautiful, seemingly in reach, not quite close but not quite far either.

Everything shatters when Naruto bounds back in, blonde hair singed at the tips with little sparks still bursting out, face covered in layers and _layers_ of soot and ash that makes even _Sasuke_ cringe (Kurama has tensed the moment he saw Naruto's face) and pauses to stare.

Sasuke briefly wonders if he'll actually read the atmosphere and leave them alone.

"OI TEME!" Naruto yells, pointing a finger at the dark haired boy accusingly. "HOW COME YOU GET A KURAMA HUG, HUH?! WHY DON'T I GET ONE TOO YOU BASTARD!"

Sasuke has really lost all faith in Naruto. He idly considers _why_ Naruto blames _him_ and not _Kurama_ even though it's _Kurama_ doling out the hugs and not him. Sasuke also steadily ignores the fact that _his_ arms are wrapped around Kurama _first_, before Kurama's arms come around his own tiny body.

Naruto bounds in and crashes into the two of them, getting soot and ash and god knows what (that boy tumbled around in _soil_ and _grass_ and Kurama doesn't even want to _think_ about what is going into the carpet or how he's going to _get it out of the carpet_. It's depressing.) all over and both – formally clean – Kurama and Sasuke cringe.

But they accept Naruto's embrace anyways.

(_"Yellow Brat," Kurama states, in a tone that brooks no argument. "Get all that dirt out of the carpet."_

_"__Whaaaaaaat?" Naruto whines – all clean and sparkly now after Kurama clicked his tongue that sent both boys tumbling over one another in their sprint to the shower. "Why meeeeee?"_

_"__Because you got it in there in the first place, brat."_

_Sasuke smirks in the corner when he hears Naruto's wail_.)

* * *

It's funny how Naruto calls Kurama by his name, because in his mind Kurama is a brother figure, a hero, an amazing person, and he isn't just 'Kurama'.

So when he's yelling about something and lets the word 'Rama-nii' slip, Naruto just washes it off like it's nothing, and simply continues. But he suddenly notices how Kurama tenses up beneath him and he peeks up, yellow fringe floating above his cerulean eyes as he cocks his head curiously.

"Rama-nii?"

"Naruto," Kurama breathes out, slow and soft and _trembling_. "Don't call me Rama. _Ever_. Please." The man adds the last (magic) word like it's an afterthought, like it's actually a sort of order neatly disguised as a plea. Naruto catches it, files it away in his head, and grips Kurama's shirt tighter.

"Why not?"

"Because, Naruto," Kurama's voice is quiet and in a whisper. It sounds nostalgic and sad. "Someone very important to me used to call me Rama. It's a nickname only he can use."

"Important?" Naruto asks. "You have an important person too, Kurama? Cool! What's he like?"

"_Was_, Naruto. What _was_ he like," Kurama corrects, and Naruto gets a sudden epiphany. Oh. _Oh_. He gets it now. Naruto might be oblivious, might have no tact, but when it comes to Kurama, it's like he _understands_.

"Oh." Naruto whispers quietly, looking down. "I'm s'ry."

"It's okay Naruto," Kurama says. "It's okay."

"Kura-nii?" Naruto tries, hopeful.

"Okay," Kurama tells Naruto. "That's good, that's okay."

"Kura-nii!"

When Sasuke comes back, he bristles at the fact that Naruto has a _nickname_ for _his_ Kurama, and demands to call Kurama 'Kura-nii' as well, which Kurama agrees to. Naruto spends a long time whining and wailing about _why Kura-nii why would you let the teme _do _that why why why_ and Kurama just leaves the childish duo to settle their differences again in the training room.

Kurama claims that he doesn't care about what the kids do when they fight, but he always ends up as the one helping them patch up and making sure they heal properly and separating them when the fight gets a bit too edgy. Kurama doesn't know when he's started to lie to himself.

But hearing Naruto's voice (_Naruto Naruto Naruto twenty-six year old Naruto_) saying "Rama-nii!" broke something in him. Unleashed something. It aches and pains and it feels like Kurama's drowning in water – he's a _fire_ demon, he's okay with water but _not too much not too much this is too too much_ – and he can't come up for air.

Sometimes, when Naruto and Sasuke are at the Academy, Kurama stares at the wall and talks to nothing. Speaks of his life, his thoughts, his ideas, his kids, and Kurama makes believe that someone out there _listens_. Someone with yellow sun hair and blue ocean eyes and six whisker marks on his cheeks and is taller than Kurama and has the most brilliant smile in the world.

"Naruto," Kurama whispers to nothing. "Naruto are you listening?"

_Yes_, the wind blows in his ear. His Naruto always had a way with the wind. Controlled it, played with it, learnt with it, fought along with it, _embodied_ it. _Yes_, the wind calls out. _Yes Kurama, I'm listening_.

Kurama briefly wonders how it's possible to rain in his house. One drip, one droplet touches the ground, and that's it.

His eyes are red-rimmed.

* * *

_This was a stupid idea_, Sasuke signs to Naruto as they run to school. _I don't think I can last a day like this_.

_Come on_, Naruto signs back. _Just one day. Don't you want to prove Kura-nii wrong?_

_Yes. No. Maybe._ Sasuke signs. _Not at this cost_.

He gestures with a scowl at the orange jumpsuit on his body. _You have the worst fashion sense ever_.

Naruto laughs and pulls at his own mesh shirt and arm thingies. _You're not too bad, I guess_.

_You're going down later on_, Sasuke frowns. He pauses outside the door, and inhales a huge breath, steeling himself for the shame and the horror ahead.

"GOOD MORNING, DATTEBAYO!" He yells as he strides into the room, Naruto following closely behind with a scowl on his face and hands tucked into his pockets.

"Hn." Naruto inclines his head at Kiba – whose jaw has touched the ground. "Morning."

"Sa-Sasuke-kun?" Sakura stammers out with a horrified look on her face that clashes with her startling pink hair. "Are you okay?"

"Sakura-chan!" Sasuke announces with a grin as he bounds over. "How are you?"

The girl turns, marginally frightened to the blonde boy, and he gives her a look, before raising his eyebrows in a very Uchiha-eqsue way. "What?"

Sakura can't even find it in her to care about the fact that Sasuke called her with the familiar '-chan' because he's acting so _weird_ today. Almost like _Naruto_.

And then it hits her.

At least Ino catches her as she falls down.

"Yo, Kiba!" Sasuke grins and sits down next to the guy, putting his hands behind his head. "Got anything lined up for today?"

"A-ah… no?" Kiba stutters, eyes wide and darting between the two boys, different as night and day. "What're you doing, anyways, Sasuke?"

"Sasuke?" Said boy raises an eyebrow, a huge smile breaking across his face. "Nah, I'm nothing like that teme, I'm Naruto!"

Shikamaru stares at Sasuke, before lazily dragging his gaze over to Naruto. "Sasuke?"

Naruto inclines his head in agreement.

"Oh god," Kiba mutters faintly. "I think I'm going to collapse. Chouji, hold me."

Chouji just continues munching on his chips, eyes wide and marginally excited.

"So," Sasuke grins as he rubs his hands together. "Who wants to prank Iruka-sensei on this fine day?"

* * *

Naruto has got to give it to Sasuke, for a sometimes teme with a stick usually stuck far up his ass, Sasuke can _really_ get into pranking someone. And Sasuke pranks people with a vengeance, like he's seeking revenge for something. A heck lot cleaner and more stealthy than what Naruto usually deals out, though Naruto plays more on avoiding the ANBU or jounin or chunin or genin when he's found out, whereas Sasuke plays more on _not_ being found out at all.

The first prank was simple, very childish, a pin on the teacher's seat. But instead of one pin, it was _thousands_. All shrunk into tiny minuscule pins that aren't visible to the naked eye, and all painstakingly stuck onto Iruka-sensei's chair in a matter of minutes.

Naruto was kind of surprised to find out that Sasuke had actually prepared that last night. It was a good move, preempting the night before, and Naruto – dare he say it – is actually _kind of_ proud of having Sasuke as his student. Maybe, he thinks, this is what Iruka-sensei feels when he sees his students all grown up and powerful. It's a heady sensation.

And about the playing pranks with a vengeance thing, Naruto thinks that Sasuke might actually hold a grudge against Iruka-sensei, about the Kurama issue. Sasuke's grin and laughter when Iruka-sensei falls for it is high and light-hearted, but Naruto has lived with the teme for over a month, he _knows_ which laughters are fake and which are real and which have a current of maliciousness running through like this particular one. Naruto even has them numbered off and stuff. This particular one is Laugh Number 65 – very, very fake, but very, very believable if not looking for the viciousness hiding beneath.

Sasuke, Naruto thinks, is actually a very good actor. Brilliant, sort of on par with Naruto himself, even. Maybe, Naruto ponders as he stares stoically at Iruka-sensei, maybe this is what Sasuke has been reduced to after the Uchiha Massacre. Nothing but fake laughs and faux smiles. A very pretty picture, but fake.

Naruto can easily relate. He's the reject, after all. Did anyone seriously believe that a kid who had been ostracized and jeered at and discriminated against could possibly stay optimistic and smiling all the time? No, it's merely a Pretend Game.

(_"How do you deal with the stares?"_

_"__Sasuke, let me let you in on a secret game I play. It's called… The Pretend Game."_

_"... For a moment you were cool. For a moment. __That sounds extremely childish."_

_"__Oi, you wanted to know, so shut up! Well, this Pretend Game is very important. You pretend, see?"_

_"… __I gathered that from the name itself."_

_"__Oh shut up, don't give me your wit. Imagine a huge bubble around you. Or whatever you want, really. First it was a cloak of darkness for me, I thought it was pretty cool, to be honest. Then I moved on to a bubble. And then I moved on to a castle. Currently, it's actually just idea of Kurama walking beside me, cause he's what comforts me the most."_

_"__Okay, let's go with Kurama then."_

_"__Yeah, sooooo, you pretend that Kurama is the one keeping them away from you. That Kurama is the one getting all the attention because he's so cool and amazing and powerful and strong because really, he is strong, isn't he? And cool and amazing and powerful, too. Kurama is everything in the world."_

_"__And that helps?"_

_"__Well, I'm not an expert on mind stuff, I think you've got to ask Ino-chan about that, but from I can tell from my own experience, it's sort of comforting. It's like playing pretend, y'know? I can't explain it very well, sorry, but it's like… Like with Kurama next to you, you can be anything. You could be a prince from a far away country that has run away from home because you didn't want to be stuck in an arranged marriage. You could be a wizard, an old and powerful mage, but no one knows that. You could be a kid ANBU, even! You could be anyone. Anything. If you thought of yourself as bullshit, Sasuke, I wouldn't be surprised."_

_"__I'm not even going to rise to return that insult, Naruto. It was one of your poorer ones."_

_"__Yeah, yeah, I get it. Blegh. But you get it?"_

_"… __Sort of? It's all in your head, essentially. A game of play pretend. The Pretend Game. I'm not Uchiha Sasuke, not the Last Uchiha, not the one who's been betrayed by the closest kin I had. I'm someone else, someone mystical and strange and powerful from a far away land. Something like that?"_

_"__Yeah. Something like that. Cool, ain't it?"_

_"… __Having Kurama next to you as you walk everywhere sounds too good to be true, but… yeah. Sounds sort of cool. Does it really work, though?"_

_"__Tried and tested! Well, for me at least… You should try it next time. The Pretend Game. You're someone else. It's nice to forget about this shitty life for a while."_

_"…"_

_"__Don't tell Kurama I swore."_

_"__Naruto…"_

_"__TEME DON'T YOU DARE GAH- Oh hey, uh, Kura-nii, hi? I didn't swear, I swear. I didn't, no matter what that teme tells you, ahahahaha... AH-"_)


	5. I'll Be There

A/N: Hey guys, my exams are over, so I might be updating more regularly now. On the down side, my grandmother has had an accident, and she's in the hospital right now, so my whole family is pretty high strung. I'm not sure if or when I can find inspiration or motivation to start writing again, but I'll try to keep to my weekly updates on Friday. Fingers crossed for my grandmother's swift recovery.

* * *

It's a cold night when Naruto finds Kurama missing.

Naruto doesn't know what to do, all he had wanted was to get up and possibly get a drink or two to quench his thirst but when he sees Sasuke curled up against a pillow and no Kurama in sight he gets a bit scared. Naruto is very, _very_ insecure when it comes to Kurama.

And when he comes out to the house, the big four-apartment size house, a faint wind blows through and there is no Kurama.

Naruto feels his heart in his throat. Something roars in his ears and all cognitive thought is erased by the bone-chilling _fear_ rushing through him. It's paralyzing and freezing and it makes him breathless, not in a good way. He can't get any oxygen in his lungs. Naruto's mind faintly registers that he's trembling, and a red tint covers his eyes.

He's scared. So, _so_ scared.

He wants Kurama back.

Naruto hears the creak of the door opening and he sees the mop of black hair peek out, with Sasuke rubbing an eye and yawning. Naruto's still trembling, shuddering, shoulders shaking as he clenches his fists and try to hold down the fear from escaping from him. It seems to take the form of a deadly red aura, whispering around his veins and in his mind, but Naruto doesn't want that. Doesn't want whatever malicious power is in his veins. He doesn't even question _why_ it's there.

"Kura-nii." He forces out, sight blurry. "He's gone, S'uke, he's _gone_."

He can see Sasuke stiffen immediately from the corner of his eye. Sasuke's skin seems even paler in the moonlight – Naruto is like a chocolate brown, or so Kurama claims, while Sasuke is the color of milk, milk chocolate, and now he's paler than pale and Naruto thinks that it's partially because of the fear that he is _sure_ is wrecking through Sasuke's body as well.

They've both been abandoned before. And Kurama put them back together with careful stiches and painstaking effort and, and, and

Now he's gone.

"You sure?" Sasuke asks, voice trembling. "You're very, very sure? You checked everything?"

"Yes," Naruto whispers. "Yes, yes, yes I check everything and Kura-nii's not _here_."

"He-" Sasuke's voice breaks. "He wouldn't leave."

"I don't know." A tear slips down traitorously. "I don't _know_, S'uke."

He can feel Sasuke's grip around his arm, tight and vice-like and shuddering, and Naruto's vision clears a bit, the red hue and tingle disappearing the way the sunset does – quick, easy, comfortable but a little bit _longing_. Naruto doesn't bother.

"Okay," Sasuke tries, "we need to search?" Naruto thinks that Sasuke doesn't really know what to do either.

"Okay," Naruto breathes out shakily. "Search, yeah, we can do that. I'll take that end and you take the other. Search. We can do that."

They flick the lights on and start searching with a _vengeance_. While Naruto is ruffling through the training room, he suddenly pauses. _What if jiji told the ANBU to take Kurama?_

_No,_ Naruto tells himself firmly as his eyes sting. _Kura-nii is a demon, he's stronger and powerful than everyone else in the world, hasn't he said that before?_

He shudders in a deep breath, before continuing to search.

They meet up in half an hour, turning up nothing. Naruto is scared and worried and he thinks Sasuke is the same, too. Maybe that's why they can't think straight, he wonders as he suddenly crashes into Kurama's room, the room they came out of, the room they _forgot to search_.

And right on the table is a note. In Kurama's flowery _familiar_ writing. Naruto can't even find it in himself to shout about how Kurama's slanted pretty scrawl shouldn't be used to write kanji, as he's said _countless_ times.

_Brats_, it starts, and both boys heave out a collective sigh, slightly relieved and comforted because if Kurama uses the term 'Brats', it means he's not angry or anything. The term is familiar and oft used, and it means that Kurama is coming _back_.

_Brats, you guys are probably freaking out now, and I apologise._

The two boys just read with bated breath, picturing Kurama standing in front of them saying the words with that sort of sheepish but mostly exasperated with that raised eyebrow of his.

_I didn't intend to leave so abruptly. I'm coming back, of course, but I need to see someone first. It only just occurred to me that I needed to find someone. And I'm a very impulsive person, so I just went ahead and left. I'll be back by, uh, three days at the most, and all your bentos are already in the fridge, so heat 'em up when you're going to the Academy. Naruto, make sure Sasuke doesn't act too haughty or rude in class again, or train too much and have chakra exhaustion, and Sasuke, I'm entrusting you with the role of making sure Naruto studies properly and eats well. Ramen in one out of three days is fine, and only for ONE meal. Any more, and Naruto, you'll be banned from my ramen for a month. And for god's sake, don't fight all that much, will you? I'll be back before you know it, so just hold tight._

Ah, Naruto thinks as he sinks back down into the soft bed. Kurama's coming back. Thank god.

"So," Sasuke says.

"Kura-nii's coming back," Naruto finishes, and both boys nod furiously with glassy eyes.

They fall into a comfortable silence, and when Naruto checks the clock, it's already three in the morning.

"D'you want to just eat something and go to the Academy to train first?" Naruto starts. "I don't think I can fall asleep again."

Sasuke gives a "Hn" and both boys get out of the bed.

The _I don't think I can ever fall asleep again without Kura-nii_ goes unsaid.

They change, and grab their bentos, walking to the Academy with the moonlight shining down on them. Maybe, Naruto thinks. Maybe without Kurama here, the only person I have left is Sasuke.

The old jiji is nice and all, but he's not… _home_. Not close. Not quite far, but not quite close either. If everyone else was thirty meters away, Iruka-sensei was probably ten meters away, the old jiji was an arm length and a bit, but Sasuke and Kurama were _right there_, having sort of forced their way into Naruto's own private little world.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto asks absently. "Who do you think Kura-nii's visiting? I didn't know he knew anyone."

"Hm," Sasuke hums. "Another demon maybe?"

"Another demon? Where in the world are you going to find another demon?"

* * *

Well, Kurama thinks. He's got sand in places he didn't even know _existed_. Cold and wind and sand and night don't mix together all that well, he muses.

And maybe he shouldn't have left in the middle of the night. Kurama's a genius at sealing, and he's put a couple of panic seals around the house that are attuned to the two brats – if they panic, he senses it. The seals almost broke his eardrums with the way they were blasting out panic signals. It slowed down after a while, but still remained pulsing in his mind. Kurama actually thinks that the brats are pretty cute when panicky, but not to _this_ extent. He really wants to go back and cuddle with them under that ultra comfortable blanket that he is so _glad_ he bought a few days ago.

But he has a promise to fulfill, and so here he is, like a fairy godfather, on a midsummer's night with a child's wishes to grant. Naruto's list of people to help was long and _long_.

And that kid sitting on the roof with the stormy emerald eyes and blood-red hair – his own hair, as Kurama likes to call it, is a soft red. Sunset red. Beautiful and sweet. Ish. But that kid's hair is startling and blinding and it reminds him of blood. – who smells of the metallic scent of blood is on the list. The fourth, Kurama thinks.

Gaara. His name is Gaara.

And, Kurama ponders as he creeps up onto a nearby roof. He looks like he needs some sleep.

"Boo," the man whispers quietly into the wind, knowing that Gaara's ears will pick it up. Sure enough, the kid jolts, looking around wildly while collecting sand around him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a demon," Kurama grins foxily, red eyes glinting in the moonlight and the boy swallows.

"So am I."

Kurama breaks at this, dropping the slightly malicious outlook and laughs, low and steady, because really, this boy is _far_ from a demon. He's like a… more jaded version of Naruto, as far as jaded can be. Get it, jaded, emerald, green colors… No? Kurama snickers to himself.

"Kid," Kurama says. "You're not a demon. Far from it."

The boy turns away, the sand swirling at his feet but not primed for action, and stares at the full moon. "The people say I am. My father says so. My siblings say so."

"Nah," Kurama laughs. "You're not a demon. The thing inside of you is, but you aren't. You're a boy with red hair and green eyes and super bad eye bags, that's what you are."

The boy snorts out a laugh, before freezing and staring at the man with something akin to awe. "Then," the boy says cautiously. "How are you a demon, if you're a man with red hair and black braid and red eyes?"

"Nice description," Kurama says, twirling a lock of hair around his index finger. "But I'm not a real man. I'm a demon, in human form." He grins, all teeth.

Gaara believes.

"What," he tries. "What is your name?"

"Kurama." Something deep inside of Gaara rolls and purrs and croons at that name, and he's surprised that the demon inside of him is so _delighted_ and _content_. All he's ever felt from the demon is malicious intent and an addictive blood thirst, but it's strangely docile now.

"Come here kid," Kurama motions towards him, and the boy slowly stumbles to his side. "How long has it been since you've slept?"

"I don't remember," Gaara whispers, eyes wide. "The demon- I've never been able to fall asleep. The demon takes over. And if I do-

"I get nightmares."

_Nightmares?_ Kurama frowns and furrows his brows at this. _Naruto never mentioned anything about Gaara's nightmares._ "Okay kid, get some sleep then. Kids are supposed to sleep for what, eight hours a day, not turn vampire-ish like you. Eight hours, not nil."

"I can't," Gaara says, low and soft and under his breath. "I told you, the demon comes out. I _can't_."

"With me," Kurama says back, comforting and warm and the voice wraps around Gaara like a blanket. "With me, you can sleep as long as you want." He puts a hand in Gaara's hair and the boy sinks to his knees, curling up at Kurama's feet.

Kurama crosses his legs, and puts the boy's head in his lap.

"Shukaku," he whispers as he strokes the red head with green eyes. "Shukaku, _honestly_ why would you do something like this to a child?"

_Mm_, the sand whispers in his ear as it swirls around Gaara, taking a human shape. Shukaku scratches the back of his head, looking down. _'M s'ry Kura. The seal sort of amplified my negative emotions, and I was a bit lost without you. Rather volatile too. The seal is a shit piece of work._

Kurama knows that Shukaku would never have willingly done this to a child, and he believes. He _knows_ his friend like the back of his hand, sand has always complemented fire and they used to be joined at the hip. All of the demons were together. One huge gigantic family. The family fights could level countries. The cold shoulders could last for centuries. The gatherings and play fights could destroy villages.

Fun. And even if they were demons, they had _morals_. Sure, they could be blinded by rage once or twice (like how Kurama was when he had been sealed in Naruto – first he gets summoned _out of nowhere_. Then he gets _possessed_ by some low-life peasant. Afterwards, he gets _shoved_ into some boy in the heat of the moment. Who wouldn't be angry? And to be honest, Kurama's sense of time was a little screwed up too, so the sixteen odd years that he spent at odds with Naruto was really like sixteen minutes in his mind) and wreck havoc, but they knew when to stop. Like how children were off limits. Even Kurama didn't play around with Naruto's sleeping schedule. Or raged in the village whenever he felt like it. Kids were _different_, dammit. If they were some old geezer then all rules were off, but they would have usually formed a casual camaraderie with them already, so no big deal.

"How bad is the seal?"

_Bad, _Shukaku says. _Really bad. Worse than my first attempts at sealing, and those were bad. _

Kurama winces. He's right, those really _were_ bad. If the seal on Gaara – that was supposed to be _powerful_ and _strong_ enough to contain a _demon_, not some slipshod work – was worse than _that_… The kid was worse off than he thought. And including something to amplify negative emotions? Shit.

First thing in the morning, Kurama was going to change the seal.

_And_, Shukaku frowns, _how did you get your own form back again? Aren't you sealed in that yellow chibi? Gaara's the son of the Kazekage, you hear things. How did you get out? You didn't claw your way out of his stomach like you did with that one crazy jinchuuriki, did you?_

Kurama feels that he is very justified in shooting Shukaku the sandman a deadpan look with a very exaggerated raise of an eyebrow.

"Honestly," Kurama starts, hand still stroking the hair of the boy in his lap, a soft nostalgic smile on his face. "I'll tell you what happened."

* * *

Gaara really, really likes this man a whole lot. He doesn't understand why, he just does. The man is funny and nice and warm, and he's genuine to Gaara. This relationship thing that they have is built on truths and trust and is something _tangible_, something that glides through his veins with whispers and purrs and makes both the boy and the demon inside very, _very_ pleased. It's not like the relationships with his uncle – lies and faux smiles and _more lies_ – or his father – maybe it was obliviousness, maybe it was forgetfulness, maybe it was just Gaara coming up with weak excuses for his father – or his siblings – fear of death, fear of the demon, fear of Gaara.

Kurama is a nice man. And he helped with that 'shitty seal' (as said by Kurama) on Gaara, which helped make the demon inside _much_ nicer. The demon inside – Shukaku, Kurama called him – didn't rage about, whispering empty promises and vile beliefs into his mind, weaving his threads of mind games and blood thirst. Shukaku is like a sort of mentor now, one that has lived for centuries, is practically _one with the sand_, and knows everything and anything about the glorious particles that swirl around Gaara when he commands it. The sand is _so_ much more _responsive_ now, coming the moment he calls for it, and the sand in his gourd seems unending. Instantly replenished. Maybe it's a Shukaku thing.

And even though Kurama insists on not appearing in Suna, not being seen around with Gaara, he still spends _ages_ around Gaara, hidden in the sand dunes, teaching Gaara about the countries and the villages and two boys that are as broken as he is, but put back together by Kurama. Kurama describes them as the sun and the moon with hues of yellow and black littering the sky, clashing together and forever but blending and melding perfectly at the same time. Kurama says that they are forever and never molded together, and that they are capable of far greater things than anyone has ever done before.

Gaara rather likes the sound of them.

And Kurama describes _him_ as red and black and green, like the sky when it's turning from day to night, that one moment when red merges with black and light shades of emerald dot the sky as the sun goes down and the stars appear. Gaara is flattered, immensely.

And maybe, Gaara thinks, this might be the beginning of something along the lines of hero worship, but he doesn't care, and he can readily believe that Kurama hangs the sun and the stars and the moon in the sky.

It's sad that the man has to leave in three days. Two, now.

"Kid," Kurama says, and Gaara turns, walking towards him. "How about you learn something other than your sand?"

"Why? I have sand. I have Shukaku. What else do I need?" Kurama thinks that it says something when all he thinks after hearing those words is _Gaara you poor child_. Because Kurama hears it as _I have sand. I have Shukaku. I don't need anyone else because no one else wants me_.

"Well, one day Shukaku might not be with you anymore. Y'know, sometimes when you're in old age and stuff, they switch containers. So you might need to learn other stuff. And it's fun, anyways."

"I'll never grow old," Gaara says firmly. "I'll keep Shukaku forever." He hears a deep chuckle in his mind. _Shukaku?_

_Kiddo,_ the demon replies. _Listen to Kura. He knows what he's talking about_.

_Of course. I'll listen to him more than you_.

"Sometimes," Kurama says, voice suddenly low and soft, and Gaara has to strain his ears to hear. "Sometimes you don't have a choice when something is about to be taken from you."

Kurama sounds like he _knows_.

_Shukaku? You aren't going to leave anytime soon, right? You have nine years of hate to make up for._

The demon is silent. Gaara feels cold. Colder than when he found out his uncle had attempted to kill him. Colder than when he killed his uncle in return.

"Oh," Gaara replies softly. "Oh. Okay."

Kurama gives him a small smile, and something inside Gaara brightens up. "What weapons do you know?"

"None," Gaara says honestly, and furrows his brows when Kurama chuckles. "But Temari uses a fan. Thingy. Kankuro uses puppets."

"Okay, do you want to learn anything special?"

"… A sword?"

Kurama gives him a slightly incredulous look. "With that gourd on your back? Why a sword, anyways?"

"Swords are cool," Gaara mumbles to himself. "Kinda."

Kurama smiles and ruffles his hair. "Okay kid. I'm pretty okay at the sword, but it's a long term kind of thing, so you might want to learn it from Baki. This guy in your village, called Baki. He's a jounin, and he ain't half bad at the sword. Doesn't use it often in fights, but eh. He can wield it well enough."

"Baki," Gaara tries out the name. "Baki."

"Baki-_sensei_, Gaara," Kurama stresses. "He's going to be your teacher, address him with the right honorific."

"Baki-sensei," Gaara repeats. "Why do I have to address him with the right honorific? Honorifics are about respect. I don't respect him."

"Respect has to be earned, Gaara. To have someone respect you, you must respect him first. Same thing about your siblings. If you keep calling them by their names, and not Nee-san or Nii-san, it doesn't make them feel like they're your siblings. Think of it as calling your father by his name. It's just _strange_." Kurama explains.

"So," Gaara starts, trying to process the information. "Kurama-nii?"

He's a bit startled when Kurama barks out a laugh. "That _is_ the right honorific, right? Or do you prefer for me to use –san?"

"No, no," Kurama laughs. "Kurama-nii is fine. Just… Well, I'd like to see how the brats take to your nickname for me."

"Oh." Gaara says, horrified. "Should I call you Kurama-san?"

"It's okay," Kurama grins. "Kurama-nii is good."

"So I should call Temari Nee-san and Kankuro Nii-san?" Gaara ponders this. "But Kankuro seems less mature than me. I wouldn't mind calling Temari Nee-san, but Kankuro… He wears makeup. That says a lot. Wears more makeup than Nee-san."

He frowns a bit when Kurama doubles over in laughter. "I really don't want to call him Nii-san. He's more girl than boy."

"Gaara," Kurama chokes out. "I'm pretty sure Kankuro is a boy, through and through, makeup or not."

"Hn."

"We should get you to learn a few ninjutsu and genjutsu. You can train with Temari and Kankuro for taijutsu. Don't assume that no one will be able to break through your sand barrier. Nothing is indestructible, so when that time comes, I want you to be proficient enough in taijutsu to be able to attack and defend."

_See,_ Gaara idly thinks to Shukaku as he listens to Kurama. _This is why I prefer Kurama-nii. He's far nicer than you_.

_Kiddo,_ Shukaku replies. _Kurama is far nicer than _everybody_. But when he gets mad, get your ass out of the vicinity. Evacuate to the furthest country, even. _

Yes, Gaara thinks. Kurama is powerful and beautiful.

He's very, very glad that sand and fire go well together.

* * *

Kurama finds it very, _very_ funny, that the first thing Temari does when Gaara calls her "Nee-san" in passing is freeze, before jumping back a few miles and hiding behind a stall. He's laughing his guts out, and Gaara is pursuing his lips in an attempt to get Kurama to stop, but Temari is just really, really confused and hiding behind a stall.

"Nee-san," Gaara clears his throat. "I was wondering, if you could help me with my taijutsu."

Temari has her weapons out. Her hand is shaking. Kurama thinks that nothing is funnier.

"Nee-san," Gaara repeats, a bit exasperated. "I was wondering if you would help me with my taijutsu."

"Gaara?" Temari asks. "_Gaara_?"

"Yes, Nee-san, I was _wondering if you would help me with me taijutsu_."

"Oh," Temari says, shaking her head as she tentatively lowers her weapons. "Oh. Er, I'm not sure if I'm the right person for it… ?"

"It's either you or Nii-san," Gaara says very seriously. "And I really don't think Nii-san is all that good at taijutsu."

"Y-you mean," Temari swallows. "Kankuro?"

"Yes," Gaara replies in all seriousness. "I don't think Nii-san is the right boy for the job."

"Oh." Temari isn't sure to freak out about the fact that Gaara isn't threatening her, or about the fact that he's calling her Nee-san, or about the fact that he's calling _Kankuro_ Nii-san, or about the fact that he's dissing Kankuro in front of her. "Oh, ah, I might need to ask father. I'll… get back to you?"

"Nee-san," Gaara presses. "It is a simple yes or no question. Do you really require father's permission?"

Temari is still hiding behind the stall, but her weapons are down. "I'm not very sure…"

"Nee-san." Gaara repeats. Kurama has told him that using that honorific multiple times can very well turn the tide in one's favor. And the way it rolls off his tongue is sort of nice. Unfamiliar, but nice. "Nee-san, please?" He attempts to employ the famous 'puppy eyes' that Kurama swears by.

Huh, he thinks, as he watches Temari crumble and nod hesitantly. The puppy eyes work.

"Oh," Gaara mutters absently as his eyes flick over to where Kurama is hiding in the shadows. "Have you seen Baki-sensei anywhere?"

"Baki." Temari feels faint. "Baki… sen-sei?"

It's too much shock for a day, and she faints clean away.

Gaara furrows his brows when Kurama starts laughing again. It's _not funny_ dammit.

_Kid,_ Shukaku mumbles from his mind, amusement trickling through the seal. _This is goddamn hilarious. I want dango to go with this._

_No,_ Gaara thinks back. _No dango. I need to find Baki-sensei. And uh, probably need to bring Nee-san home, too._

_Good to know your priorities are set straight, kid._

* * *

Naruto is panicking. Again. It's been three days and an _hour_, and Kurama's not back.

He's trying to convince himself that he's not hyperventilating, but it's a losing battle.

But hey, on the not so bright side, Sasuke is doing the same.

"Sasuke," Naruto breathes out heavily. "Stop panicking."

"You stop," Sasuke pants out as his breaths get faster. "Dobe, you're panicking more than I am. You're ten, stop being such a baby."

There's a short silence, punctuated by deep and fast breaths as both boys try to get their breathing under control. It's like a mini panic attack.

"You're ten too."

"Shut up."

They stare at the door, waiting, wishing, _wanting_ for a certain red head man with the prettiest red eyes in the world to stroll through that one door. It's a long and painful wait.

"Teme," Naruto asks softly, voice trembling. "He's coming back, right?"

"Of course he is," Sasuke snaps. He pauses, inhaling sharply. "He's coming back right? He is. Right?"

"Yeah," Naruto swallows thickly. "Course he is."

It's just the two of them, relying heavily on one another as they sit cross legged in front of the door. They sit with their backs ramrod straight, hands curled up into fists at their knees, eyes trained on the door. But their minds are leaning against each other, running and falling and crashing into each other with their shared panic and slight fear. It's how they fall asleep for the past two nights, tangled up in bed sheets and pillows and each other (sort of, it's more of the blanket trapping both of them in it's cruel hold and the boys can't unravel themselves) as they wait for Kurama.

It's been three days, an hour and _fifteen minutes_. In other words, Kurama is _late_.

So when Kurama sneaks up on them (probably through the window. Looking back, Sasuke guesses that he should have expected him to enter through the window as well, Kurama _is_ after all, a ninja, even if he is a rogue one.) and wraps his arms around the two of them together, both boys find themselves extremely justified in screaming bloody murder as they attempt to stab the "kidnapper" with their shuriken and kunai.

It really isn't ninja behavior, but the boys are already high strung, and they really can't think clearly right now. So instead of using the Substitution Jutsu or anything, they just jab randomly with their shuriken and kunai while shrieking in a very manly manner.

When it finally registers in Sasuke's mind that this warm chakra is Kurama, that Kurama is _back_, he just drops everything and forcibly turns around in the grip that he is in to sort of strangle Kurama around the ribs. Naruto immediately notices that it is Kurama after this, and struggles to do the same.

"You," Naruto says in a muffled voice as he presses his face into Kurama's clothes. "Are covered in _sand_."

"Such an astute observation Naruto, highly intelligent of you," Kurama states as he strides off into the room, both boys attached to his chest.

"Sasuke," Naruto stage whispers to the black haired boy. "Was that an insult?"

"Yes," Sasuke whispers back to him. "It was a pretty good insult."

"Kuramaaaaaa, the first thing you do when you come back is insult me? Why?!"

"At least I'm not the one who just stabbed his guardian inconsiderately after a tiring three day journey."

It is now that the two boys register the blood trickling out in slow rivulets from different cuts on Kurama's skin. They panic.

Sasuke forces Kurama onto the futon, and sits on him as Naruto dashes around the house, searching desperately for the band aids (that they are always in stock of, seeing as fights and spars and god knows what are something like a daily activity for the family) that he _knows_ are somewhere… around the house.

"Will band aids help in cuts?" Naruto asks hysterically as he fumbles with the boxes of band aids in his arms. "Does Kurama need to go to the hospital? Oh no what if he bleeds to death?"

"He won't bleed to death," Sasuke scoffs, grabbing the boxes of band aids. "Give that here."

"Does Kurama have a specific pattern choice that he wants? Oh my god, what if I give him this fox band aid and he doesn't like it? Oh no we're out of frog band aids, maybe he prefers frog band aids oh _no_, Sasuke!"

Kurama laughs, rumbling and deep, and it faintly registers in his mind just how _much_ he has missed his boys. Gaara is cute and all, but his brats are _cuter_, no matter what Shukaku says. Sasuke shakes while sitting on his vibrating chest, and the black haired boy shoots an annoyed look at the grinning man beneath him.

"Stop laughing," Sasuke orders as he picks out a grinning fox band aid. "I'm going to put this on you, so stop laughing."

"I don't need one," Kurama says, gesturing at the pink skin closing over his cut wounds on his arms.

"But you were bleeding just now!" Naruto says desperately. "What if you suddenly bleed again in the middle of the night?" He insists as he sticks band aids randomly over the pink skin.

Kurama raises an eyebrow at the blonde, and the smaller boy explodes into an indignant blush. "You _might_!"

"Well," Kurama sighs as he sits up, and Sasuke slides to sit in the older man's lap. "Guess I'll have to teach you a little _basics_ on first aid. Honestly Naruto, if I stop bleeding now, I'll probably stop bleeding forever, until I get cut again. Minor wounds like these don't just suddenly open in the middle of the night. And anyways, it _is_ the middle of the night right now."

"Don't act smart," Sasuke scolds as he hits Kurama's chest. "Just shut up and take it like a man."

"Okay," Kurama grins, holding up his hands in a sign of defeat, and just waits patiently until Naruto has stuck around fifty band aids on his body. Naruto looks over his masterpiece, and nods in a very satisfied manner.

Kurama gets up, swinging Sasuke and dumping him on the bed, before striding out of _his_ bedroom (but he would impale himself on a kunai if the two brats hadn't taken over his bed, Kurama _knew_ these sort of things. And anyways, he was practically immortal _and_ could heal impossibly fast, so impaling himself on a kunai wasn't that big of a threat) to take a shower. Lingering the doorway, he looked back at his two brats, and grinned.

"I'm back."

Their eyes widen, before they are suddenly scrambling towards him, hands out to grab him. Naruto clambers onto his back as Sasuke grips him around the waist, and both boys say in whispering voices, "Welcome home."

* * *

OMAKE (I was busting a gut at this. I'm not funny, I know.)

"But I'm not a real man. I'm a... WOMAN."

"If you're a woman, you're not a man at all."

"Ah, but you see, woMAN. So I am a man, but not a REAL MAN."

"... you suck Kurama."

"Ah, but Gaara, I've had millennia to practice, unlike you low-life mortals."


End file.
